In the months leading up the 2006 mid-term elections, Republicans were repeatedly hammered by ethics scandals, so much so that the Democrats promised that, if elected, they would be the corruption-free party. As you may recall, the Democrats had a few ethics problems of their own, albeit problems which never received quite the same media attention. The misdeeds of one of those Democratic rapscallions stood out as newsworthy, however, primarily because of the comically stereotypical situation in which the congressman found himself:
Democratic leaders sought to distance the party from Mr. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who has been accused by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. In doing that, the leaders tried to draw a distinction between the accusations against him and what they said was a much broader pattern among Republicans of trading legislative influence for campaign donations, trips and other perks.
[...]
In court documents made public on Sunday, the F.B.I. said Mr. Jefferson had taken bribes to help a small technology company win federal contracts and to help it with business deals in Africa. The F.B.I. said he had concealed $90,000 from the scheme in the freezer of his home in Washington.
It’s basically what you’d expect Mayor “Diamond Joe” Quimby to be caught doing.
In spite of his legal and ethical problems, Rep. Jefferson was re-elected this past Fall (although, Nancy Pelosi had the good sense to spike him from the House Ways and Means Committee), and yesterday he received a standing ovation from the Congressional Black Caucus:
On the same day that the 110th Democratic-led Congress convenes with a plan to immediately pass lobbyist and ethics reforms, the Congressional Black Caucus Thursday gave a standing ovation to Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who faces an FBI probe into bribery allegations.
“The haters… and negative nabobs…the people who spoke against him couldn’t prevail against the people who spoke for him,” Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, master of ceremonies for the CBC’s celebratory event, said Thursday morning.
I’m really unclear as to why the CBC thinks its in its best interests to embrace this man. I understand, of course, that they are all about sticking up for black people first and foremost, which is a decidedly repugnant ethos, but how does Rep. Jefferson warrant such accolades? They must know that he will be either convicted or irreparably damaged in the near future, so how does it help the CBC to stand up, vigorously applaud, and vociferously voice support for him?
Allah has a kinder take on the CBC motivations:
Actually, that standing O might have had nothing to do with Jefferson. I didn’t blog Conyers’s ethics scandal because there’s really no point in doing so: having passed over Alcee Hastings for Intel chair last month and stripped Jefferson of his seat on the Ways and Means Committee in June, ain’t no way no chance no how Pelosi is going to move against another black congressman in a leadership position. She alienated enough House members by opposing Hoyer that she can’t afford to antagonize the CBC now too. That round of applause for Dollar Bill might have been their way of showing solidarity just in case she’s thinking of booting Conyers.
In my humble opinion, this sort of display of affection for such an obviously ethically-challenged congressman does the Democrats no good. This is especially so when their leader accepts the gavel of the House and promptly puckers up to kiss some CBC derrière:
But Ms. Pelosi made it quite clear earlier that her party intends to flex its newly acquired muscle, as she presided over the swearing-in of the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, headed by Representative Kendrick Meek of Florida.
“The Democrats are back, and the C.B.C. is in the lead, in the lead!†Ms. Pelosi exulted.
So how’s that corruption-free Congress coming anyway, Nancy?
Yeah, I know. What did you expect … they’re all congress critters, no matter the stripe.
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***UPDATE***: TPM Muckraker alerts us that one those aforementioned Democratics rapscallions, Rep. Alan Mollohan, is set to chair a prominent committee thanks to Speaker Pelosi (h/t: Insty):
Justin reported back in November that Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), who’s been under federal investigation since April of last year, was headed to chair the panel that controls the purse strings for the Justice Department.
Well, the new Speaker doesn’t see a problem with that. In fact, she took a bizarrely blasé stance on the issue when talking to a West Virginia news station:
… “Quite frankly, I think the Justice Department is looking into every member of Congress. I always say to everybody, ‘You’re now going to get a free review of your family tree — past, present and future, imagined and otherwise,’” Pelosi said.
Quoting Paul Kiel, “Huh?”
[Tags] Republican scandals, Democrat scandals, Tom Delay, Mark Foley, Alan Mollohan, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Black Caucus, William Jefferson [/tags]
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