Democrat Culture of Corruption in Congre ss

“Senior Democrat Exits House Ethics Panel
Apr 21 4:51 PM US/Eastern

By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON


The top Democrat on the House ethics committee, Alan Mollohan, will leave the panel _ at least temporarily _ while he defends his own financial conduct, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.

Mollohan's decision comes in an election year when his party is accusing majority Republicans of allowing a "culture of corruption" in Congress.

Mollohan, of West Virginia, will be replaced by Rep. Howard Berman of California, a former ranking Democrat on the panel. Mollohan has denied any wrongdoing.

The only evenly divided panel in the House, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has been divided along partisan lines for the past 16 months and unable to launch any major new investigations. If Mollohan had stayed while under his own ethics cloud, the chances for the stalemate to end would have been almost impossible.

The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that Mollohan steered millions of dollars to nonprofit groups in his district _ with much of the money going to organizations run by people who contribute to the lawmaker's campaigns.

Also, a conservative group filed a complaint with federal prosecutors this year questioning whether Mollohan correctly reported his assets on financial disclosure forms.

While Mollohan's troubles threaten to become a major campaign problem for Democrats, Pelosi, of California, said in a statement that Mollohan decided on his own to step down and that she accepted his decision.

"The allegations against Congressman Mollohan originate from the National Legal and Policy Center, which engages in highly partisan attacks on Democrats," Pelosi said.

"The attacks are an attempt to deflect attention from the long list of Republican criminal investigations, indictments, plea agreements and resignations which have resulted from the reported long-term and extensive criminal enterprise run out of House Republican leadership offices," she said.

Using a phrase that has become a Democratic refrain, Pelosi said, "The Republican culture of corruption has been ignored by the ethics committee for a year and a half following the decision of the Republican leadership to fire their own chairman and committee members for doing their job."

While Mollohan and committee chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., had 16 months of friction, Berman had a good working relationship with former ethics chairman Joel Hefley, R-Colo.

Hefley sought to have his term as chairman extended at the start of but he and two other Republicans were forced off the 10-member committee after having voted to admonish then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

Since the beginning of last year, the two leaders fought over internal rules and staffing, and in a recent meeting discussed _ but were unable to agree _ on launching any new investigations.


http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/04/21/D8H4KC1G9.html”

“The sheer scope of Hypocrisy of Democrats never fails to shock me.”

“Why aren't you ready to blame both of these worthless corrupt parties for all the problems then---say it , just say it!!! they are both full -----and they can not tell the truth and a,and a.......”

“Hypocrisy is a value that I think has been embraced by the Republican Party. We get lectured by people all day long about moral values by people who have their own moral shortcomings.
Howard Dean

Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence.
Howard Dean

DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.

BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.

DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There is no evidence...”

“http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/03/30/national/w153134S15.DTL
Bribery

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0330metmckinney.html
Assault

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-leak29mar29,1,2195176.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Illegal taping

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/24/AR2006032401726.html
Computer Fraud

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/12/griffin.conyers/
Congressman's Staff babysiting

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/04/mollohan_story.html
and now Earmarks for Business Partners”

“someone's bored”

“Political corruption? Awe! Come on! No way! Way? Damn.”

“"You're in Good Hands!"

--- ”

“LOL @ BB
Show all TT what an ass you are.”

“In response to the news, Nancy Pelosi released her own statement, blaming partisan attacks for Mollohan's problems.

Nancy has to write this situation off as a Republican attack in order to avoid dealing with the facts of the case against Mollohan.

Nancy now has a big problem. All her talk about the "culture of corruption" is exposing the corruption in her own party.”

“http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=64166


NLPC Calls Mollohan Claim that Asset Value Rose More Than 6,566 Percent 'Literally Unbelievable'

4/18/2006 3:36:00 PM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National and State Desk

Contact: Ken Boehm of the National Legal and Policy Center, 703-237-1970; Web: http://www.nlpc.org

FALLS CHURCH, Va., April 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) conducted a nine-month investigation into Rep. Alan Mollohan's Financial Disclosure Reports and concluded that it contained more than 200 errors or omissions. NLPC issued the following statement responding to Rep. Mollohan's defense of his sharp rise in wealth in recent years:

Mollohan's recent statement was characterized as "a detailed response to two major allegations" which described as the alleged unexplained increase in the value of his assets from 2000 to 2004 and the allegation that he grossly underestimated the value of his investments over nine years.

Rep. Mollohan claimed that the increase in his holdings was "easily explained," stating, "It is substantially due to the surge in real estate values in recent years, particularly in the District of Columbia."

NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm responded:

Rep. Mollohan's explanation failed to list much in the way of dollar figures and it's no wonder. The figures from his own Financial Disclosure Reports contradict him in a way that is beyond dispute. At issue is the value of Mollohan's 50 percent interest in the Foggy Bottom condominium company Remington, Inc. was advertised as "Washington's Best Kept Secret." Below is the information taken from Mollohan's own filings along with property information (units owned) taken from the D.C. Recorder of Deeds Office:

Year: 2000; Asset Value: $2,002 - $30,000; Units on 12/31: 26; Income Type: Sub S Corp Income; Income Amt.: $30,002 - $100,000

Year: 2001; Asset Value: $30,002 - $100,000; Units on 12/31: 26; Income Type: Sub S Corp Income; Income Amt.: $30,002 - $100,000

Year: 2002; Asset Value: $30,002 - $100,000; Units on 12/31: 26; Income Type: Sub S Corp Income; Income Amt.: $200,002 - $2,000,000

Year: 2003; Asset Value: $1,000,002 - $2,000,000; Units on 12/31: 27; Income Type: Sub S Corp Income; Income Amt.: $100,002 -$200,000

Year: 2004; Asset Value: $2,000,002 - $10,000,000; Units on 12/31: 27; Income Type: Sub S Corp Income; Income Amt.: $100,002 - $200,000

The Financial Disclosure Reports require the value of assets to be listed within specified ranges. While this makes an exact figure for the increase in value between two years impossible to assess, it does allow anyone with a calculator to determine the minimum increase in value. Simply calculate the percentage increase between the highest figure in the base year (2000) range and the lowest figure in the most recent year (2004).

Here's the math: Mollohan's interest in The Remington was valued by him to be worth between $2,002 and $30,000 in the year 2000. His Financial Disclosure Report for 2004 valued the same asset at being worth $2,000,002 to $10,000,000. To give Rep. Mollohan the benefit of the doubt and calculate the lowest possible increase in value, you take the highest figure in the year 2000 range ($30,000) and the lowest possible figure in the 2004 range ($2,000,002).

The percentage increase between those two figures is an astounding 6,566 percent.
Rep. Mollohan's claim that the increase was due to the "surge in real estate values" during this four year period is truly absurd. To illustrate how huge a 6,566 percent increase in value is, consider this illustration. You buy a modest condo for $100,000 and it increases in value 6,566 percent over four years. The resulting new value would be over $6.6 million.

The kind of increase in value Rep. Mollohan is claiming for his Remington asset does not even remotely resemble the D.C. real estate market in recent years.

As the chart above indicates, the incredible increase is certainly not due to a large increase in assets. Remington owned 26 units in 2000 and bought one additional unit in 2003 for about $275,000.

Rep. Mollohan's explanation failed to explain why he chose to become a business partner in the Remington in 1996 with an individual who was a government contractor performing work with funding which originated in a Department of Energy facility in Mollohan's congressional district. The business partner received a noncompetitive subcontract for work for which his company had no track record and set up offices in the Alan B. Mollohan Center, an office building run by a nonprofit which has received tens of millions of dollars in federal earmarks from Rep. Mollohan. NLPC obtained the subcontract through the Freedom of Information Act and found that the Mollohan's business partner listed the "Principal Place of Performance" for the contract was 601 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 - the address of the Remington which the partner co-owned with Rep. Mollohan.

There are numerous other problems related to Mollohan's incredibly profitable Remington investment. From 1999 through 2003, Mollohan and his partner owned a $2.3 million income- producing Note with the Remington. The value increased to $4.1 million in 2003 and finally Mollohan disclosed this asset on his 2004 Financial Disclosure Report, valuing it as being worth $1 million to $5 million. Anyone researching the public records could see that Mollohan had a 50 percent interest in this income- producing asset for five years (1999 through 2003) without disclosure as required by law.

It is not surprising that Rep. Mollohan's explanation failed to even mention the numerous issues raised by the two front-page articles in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

To date, he has failed to name a single Member of Congress who has earmarked tens of millions of dollars - or any amount - to a group run a business partner with whom he has more than two million dollars in investments. His action is unprecedented and sets a new low in congressional ethics.

To date he has refused to list the donors to the Mollohan Family Foundation despite clear evidence it comes directly from nonprofits he has funded with earmarked taxpayer dollars and from government contractors, lobbyists and special interests.

To date, he has failed to explain why Mitchell Wade, the head of MZM who recently pleaded guilty to bribing a member of the Appropriations Committee, chose to direct some $23,000 to Rep. Mollohan's political committee. Or why a company sharing government business with MZM, Information Manufacturing Corp., gave $50,000 to the Mollohan political committee during the same period as MZM.

Instead of addressing the real issues, Rep. Mollohan has decided to attack the National Legal and Policy Center as politically motivated. Any review of NLPC's outstanding record in exposing corruption would have shown that many of NLPC's greatest successes have been in exposing corruption regardless of party:

Boeing Scandal: NLPC investigated the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force in the Bush Administration, Darleen Druyun, for financial conflicts of interest. The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page story in October 2003 and Druyun pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to nine months in federal prison.

Rep. J. Fox (R-PA): NLPC uncovered a questionable undisclosed $25,000 loan from a real estate developer and campaign contributor for whom the Congressman had done favors. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a series of articles on the issue and the congressman was not re-elected.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler: a former Senate staffer for Sen. Hatch's (R-UT) committee, he was appointed to head the FDA by the first President Bush. NLPC learned that Kessler had over-billed the government numerous times on his expense account. The Associated Press ran the story nationwide, there was a call by a leading Congressman for an investigation and Kessler announced his retirement.

http://www.usnewswire.com/”

“http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-cong/2006/may/03/050300005.html

Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing (Democrat) Congressman

Today: May 03, 2006 at 9:21:0 PDT
By MATTHEW BARAKAT
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A Kentucky technology executive pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to bribing a congressman in charges stemming from an investigation of a Louisiana House member.

Vernon Jackson, 53, chief executive of Louisville-based iGate Inc., pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

The congressman was not identified in court documents or during Wednesday's plea hearing, but documents make clear that the congressman whom Jackson admits bribing is Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who represents New Orleans.

Jackson faces a maximum of 20 years when he is sentenced July 27. The plea agreement calls for a sentencing guideline range not to exceed seven to nine years, but the judge is not bound by those guidelines.

Prosecutor Mark Lytle said Jackson paid roughly $360,000 over a four-year period to a company controlled by the congressman's wife in exchange for Jefferson's help promoting iGate technology in Africa. Jackson also gave the company a 24 percent stake in iGate and paid for $80,000 in travel expenses on the congressman's trips to Africa to promote iGate.

Jackson said in court that the congressman helped iGate receive a government certification allowing the company to obtain military contracts. After that, the congressman insisted on financial compensation to continue his efforts on behalf of iGate.

"I take full responsibility for what I have done," Jackson told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. Jackson declined comment after the hearing.

Jackson is the second person to plead guilty in connection with the investigation of Jefferson. Lytle said the investigation is ongoing.

The congressman has not been charged. Jefferson denies any wrongdoing and his office has said he is cooperating with investigators.

Brett Pfeffer, a former legislative director for Jefferson, pleaded guilty in January to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy.

Pfeffer said that a congressman demanded bribes in exchange for his assistance in brokering two African telecommunications deals. Court documents make clear that Jefferson is the accused congressman, without naming him.

Jefferson denied the allegation, saying he has never demanded or accepted anything to perform a service for which he was elected.

----------------------------------------------



I'm sure the 'progressives' so concerned with corruption on the Repub side will be screaming for Jefferson's head any day now, but I'll not hold my breath.
LOL”

“Um wasn't this the same arrogant politician (and that title crosses the line by the way) who used military troops to get valuables out of his house under the pretense of "checking the area" and Rescuing people?”

“Here we go....

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1123495&page=1

ah yes...I wonder how the libs would react if say this was a Republican Congressman?”

“LOL XL
You know the thread would have at least 100 posts by now if it were a Repub.”

“Yeah well you know how amazing they are when their ox is getting gored.”

“You boys are slow on the uptake.

I posted about William Jefferson months ago.”

“Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing (Democrat) Congressman”

“http://www.rollcall.com/issues/51_117/news/13170-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Democrats Won’t Push Jefferson
By John Bresnahan
Roll Call Staff
May 4, 2006

House Democrats will not publicly call on Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) to leave office, despite a guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday by Vernon Jackson, a Kentucky businessman who allegedly paid Jefferson and his family more than $450,000 in bribes.


-------------------------------------


Mollihan and Jefferson, symbols of the Democrat culture of corruption.

If it was a republican, CNN would be harping about it all day every day.

Democrats do not leave office for crimes. Crime is part of the democrat way of life so to them it is just another day. Only Republicans resign when they are convicted or indicted.


Culture of Hypocrisy”

“http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12861193/

Ex-senator Robert Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat, linked to oil-for-food claims

By Claudio Gatti in New York

Updated: 29 minutes ago
The US Senate is looking into allegations that a former US senator urged Baghdad to give a US company lucrative contracts under the much-criticised United Nations oil-for-food programme.

This is the first time that a leading US lawmaker has been linked to the controversial UN programme, whose shortcomings have been an important element of the Bush administration's critique of the UN.

The investigation involves one of the most vivid figures in US east coast politics, former senator Robert Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat who was forced to pull out of the 2002 election after being "severely admonished" by the Senate ethics committee for accepting expensive gifts from David Chang, a campaign contributor. Mr Chang, a Korean-American businessman, was found guilty in 2002 of conspiring to violate federal campaign laws and was jailed for 15 months.

Senator Norm Coleman, the Republican chairman of the US Senate permanent sub-committee on investigations, said: "We take these allegations seriously and will continue to investigate in a bipartisan manner allegations of wrongdoing under the oil-for-food programme. We have investigated the illicit conduct of politicians in Russia, France, and the UK. We have a similar interest in preserving the institutional integrity of the US Senate, so we take these allegations regarding former Senator Torricelli seriously and will continue our investigation into them and will refer our findings to the appropriate agencies." The British, French and Russian politicians investigated by the subcommittee deny the allegations.

The allegations are based on Iraqi documents, including diplomatic cables, retrieved after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former president. The Financial Times and Il Sole 24 Ore, the Italian business daily, have obtained copies of some of the Iraqi diplomatic cables. A source also described the contents of some of the other Iraqi documents.

The Iraqi documents also involve a former Republican congressman, James Courter, who allegedly met with Iraqi officials on behalf of Bright and Bright, Mr Chang's trading and lobbying company.

According to the documents, Mr Torricelli, nicknamed "the Torch" for his incendiary political style, had a series of meetings in the late 1990s, when he was a congressman, with Nizar Hamdoun, then the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations. During these meetings, Mr Torricelli allegedly urged the Iraqi authorities to help Mr Chang and Bright and Bright get oil-for-food contracts on good terms.

The first meeting between Mr Torricelli and Mr Hamdoun took place on March 10 1996, when, according to an Iraqi document that has been described to the FT, Mr Torricelli reportedly suggested that he was willing to play an active role in improving US-Iraq communications.

The two talked about Resolution 986, which was going to set the rules of the oil-for-food programme. Mr Torricelli said a number of US companies would be interested in doing business with Baghdad, and specifically mentioned Mr Chang.

According to the same Iraqi document, Mr Torricelli met Mr Hamdoun again two days later. At that meeting, Mr Torricelli said that since their previous conversation he had spoken with Edward Gnehm, the deputy US representative to the UN, who was leading negotiations with Iraq about the oil-for-food programme.

On June 22, according to the same document, Mr Torricelli allegedly met Mr Hamdoun again. Mr Torricelli told him he had heard that the Iraqis might not give US companies any contracts and advised him that this would be a mistake. Mr Torricelli told Mr Hamdoun that he expected to win a US Senate seat in the November election (as he later did), and said that Bright and Bright was important to him and his election campaign and that he hoped that the company would receive contracts from Iraq.

According to the Iraqi document, Bright and Bright initially asked for 60 per cent of Iraq's oil contracts and a discount of $1.50 a barrel. Then on June 11 1996, a Bright and Bright executive wrote to Mr Hamdoun asking for government contracts worth as much as $300m in the first 90 days of the oil-for-food programme. In return, he said Bright and Bright would continue to support the normalisation of relations between the US and Iraq.

In mid-November 1996, according to the Iraqi document, Mr Hamdoun met with Mr Courter, then a former New Jersey Republican congressman, who is described in the Iraqi documents as the president of Bright and Bright. A Dun and Bradstreet entry for Bright and Bright lists Mr Courter as one of its principals. Mr Courter refused to comment. However, a spokesman for the company Mr Courter now runs said he was not an officer of Bright and Bright, but that "he was their [Bright and Bright's] attorney and was representing them in a legal capacity".

According to the Iraqi document, Mr Courter reportedly outlined a possible deal to Mr Hamdoun: if Iraq committed itself to stop all delaying tactics against UN inspections, use peaceful means to deal with the Kurdish people, not seek weapons of mass destruction, join the convention against chemical weapons, steer clear of any neighbouring country's territory and reject terrorism, Bright and Bright would help Baghdad in its efforts to lift UN sanctions.

In return, the Iraqi authorities were to promise to write a letter of intent giving preference to Bright and Bright in the fields of oil, industry, transportation and communications. According to the Iraqi document, Mr Courter told Mr Hamdoun that he had discussed the proposal with US government officials in Washington and had their approval.

Contacted by telephone, Mr Torricelli, who now runs his own business consulting firm and remains a powerful figure in New Jersey politics and a prominent Democratic party fundraiser, admitted meeting Mr Hamdoun "many times", "probably both" in Washington and New York "and in Baghdad". He first denied mentioning Mr Chang or Bright and Bright during his conversations with Mr Hamdoun. When told about the Iraqi documents that suggested there had been discussions, he said he did not remember mentioning them.

Mr Torricelli said he was not concerned about being contradicted by Iraqi diplomatic cables: "Iraqi cables can state almost anything. They have absolutely no credibility." He said Mr Hamdoun was "very well known and respected in the US government" and that, "unlike most Iraqi officials, he had some credibility".

Mr Gnehm, the US diplomat, also confirmed meeting Mr Torricelli and discussing Iraq. Mr Gnehm, who has left the State Department and is a professor at George Washington University, said Mr Torricelli came to the meeting with a "Korean" businessman whose name he did not recall. "I remember being surprised that there was someone else there, and I didn't know then why he was present. As an American diplomat I would be responsive to a congressman and to an American businessman, even a foreign businessman who had plants in the United States, but somebody like him? I didn't have any sense of why he was there. I figured that he and Torricelli had some sort of friendship or relationship."

On the subject of that meeting, Mr Gnehm said: "I think the general discussion was on how one goes about getting contracts in the oil-for-food programme . . . Certainly, one of Torricelli's approaches to me over this period of time was an effort to try to get business for some of the companies in his district."

An April 15 1996 cable from Mr Hamdoun to Tariq Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister at the time, if authentic, appears to corroborate these allegations. According to the cable, which has been obtained by the FT, the Iraqi mission to the UN had received a letter from the "American company that had been mentioned to us by Congressman Torricelli". In the letter the US company allegedly indicated its desire to send a delegation to Baghdad to negotiate possible commercial deals. The cable ends with a recommendation to sign an agreement with the company. A subsequent cable from Mr Hamdoun suggests that the "US company" being discussed is Bright and Bright.

During these talks, in August 1996, the Iraqi army seized the Kurdish city of Erbil. The Clinton administration responded by ordering air raids against Iraq. Engaged in a bitter Senate race, Mr Torricelli, together with all New Jersey lawmakers from both parties, backed the move. Ultimately, no concrete deals came of the discussions between Baghdad and Bright and Bright.

Mr Hamdoun died in July 2003. Mr Chang could not be contacted for comment, despite repeated efforts to reach him.

Claudio Gatti is a New York-based reporter of Il Sole 24 Ore, the Italian business dailyTorricelli: nicknamed 'the Torch' for his incendiary political style      AP'We have [an] interest in preserving the institutional integrity of the US Senate, so we take these allegations . . .  seriously'”

“Next thing ya know their governor will have a gay afair.”

“Prosecutors reviewing dead-voters report
By The Associated Press
May 19, 2006


MEMPHIS — The state prosecutor at Memphis is deciding if indictments will be sought in the voting scandal surrounding Ophelia Ford's election to the Tennessee Senate.
Prosecutor Bill Gibbons is reviewing a report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on the District 29 election in which two ballots were cast in the names of dead people.

"There's a lot of material to review," Gibbons said Thursday. "If we feel indictments are appropriate we would submit that for consideration to the grand jury."

Gibbons declined to say when he expects to make a decision.

Ford is not accused of wrongdoing but has been removed from office by her former Senate colleagues because of allegations of voting irregularities, including claims of ballots cast by felons and people who didn't live in the district.

Ford and several voters of the district have filed a federal court suit trying to get her reinstated to the Senate. A hearing on the suit has yet to be scheduled.

The Shelby County Election Commission declared Ford the winner of the election last year. Ford, a Democrat, drew 13 more votes than her Republican opponent, Terry Roland.

The election was to fill the unexpired term of Ford's brother, former Sen. John Ford, who resigned from office last year after he was indicted on federal corruption charges.


http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_4711747,00.html
last edited: 5/19/06 12:30:58 PM”

“typical”

“Then we remember the heroics of Representative William Jefferson, Democrat, Lousianna....tell us again Violin, how much you love your leftists?”

“Sarge you RACIST...don't you know that is a racially motivated investigation...that is all made up”

“http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060521/D8HNU35G2.html

FBI Searches Office of La. Congressman

May 20, 11:41 PM (ET)

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - FBI agents searched the congressional office of Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana Saturday evening in connection with a public corruption investigation that has already netted two guilty pleas by two associates, authorities said.

The search began at 7:15 p.m. EDT in the Rayburn House Office Building, where Jefferson's office is located, said Debra Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman.

It was not clear what agents were looking for and Weierman said she could provide no additional details because the affidavit supporting the search warrant was sealed.

But she indicated the search could take several hours.

Jefferson's lawyer, Robert Trout, complained that FBI agents refused to allow him or the general counsel of the House of Representatives to witness the search.

"The government's actions in obtaining a search warrant to search the offices of a United States Congressman were outrageous," Trout said in a statement issued late Saturday. "There were no exigent circumstances necessitating this action. The government knew that the documents were being appropriately preserved while proper procedures were being followed. We are dismayed by this action. The documents weren't going anywhere and the prosecutors knew it."

FBI agents searched Jefferson's homes in Washington and New Orleans last August, hauling away boxes and bags from one of the residences.

Jefferson, a Democrat in his eighth congressional term, declared his innocence Monday during news conference outside the federal building in New Orleans and said he will not resign in the face of the investigation that has resulted in guilty pleas from two people who implicated him in a bribery scheme.

"I would take full responsibility for any crime that I committed, if that were the case. But I will not plead guilty to something I did not do, no matter how things are made to look and no matter the risk," Jefferson said the news conference.

He took no questions and said he was there "to declare, among other things, my continued intention to serve."

Jefferson said if indicted he was "prepared to answer these charges formally when and if the time comes."

Jefferson said he was addressing the situation because he believed his constituents deserved to hear some response to recent publicity about the case.

He said the guilty pleas in federal court in Virginia came from friends who succumbed to enormous pressure from the federal government.

"In order to protect themselves, they have now characterized their relationship with me, or with my family, in ways that fit neatly within the government's mistaken legal theories," he said.

In January, former Jefferson aide Brett Pfeffer pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges, saying Jefferson demanded money in exchange for help in brokering two African telecommunications deals.

Vernon Jackson, chief executive of iGate Inc., a Louisville, Ky., telecommunications firm, subsequently pleaded guilty to bribery, admitting he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Jefferson and his family members in exchange for the congressman's help obtaining business deals in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

The House Ethics Committee has opened an inquiry into the case.


----------------------------------------------


You would think violin, markO, et all, that see a Culture of Corruption behind every Repub, would be screaming for Jeferson's head.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL”

“Sarge, Fox Links scare Libbies

It's funny how Drudge posts something, then magically the libbies on here post the same story, but from another link. They actually go out of their way to provide a link other than Drudge used, as if we wouldn't be on to them. LOL!”

“XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN MAY 21, 2006 20:00:02 ET XXXXX

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE WORKED TO DEFEAT NAGIN

**Exclusive**

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) secretly placed political operatives in the city of New Orleans to work against the reelection efforts of incumbent Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean made the decision himself to back mayoral candidate and sitting Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D-LA), sources reveal.

Dean came to the decision to back the white challenger, over the African-American incumbent Nagin, despite concerns amongst senior black officials in the Party that the DNC should stay neutral.

The DNC teams actively worked to defeat Nagin under the auspice of the committee's voting rights program.

The party's field efforts also coincided with a national effort by Democrat contributors to support Landrieu.

Landrieu had outraised Nagin by a wide margin - $3.3 million to $541,980.

Preliminary campaign finance reports indicate many of Landrieu’s contributions came from out of state white Democrat leaders and financiers, including a $1,000 contribution from Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) PAC.

The defeat of Mitch Landrieu is the latest setback for Dean's often criticized field operation.

In his victory speech late Saturday night, Nagin praised President Bush.

"You and I have probably been the most vilified politicians in the country. But I want to thank you for moving that promise that you made in Jackson Square forward," Nagin said.

Developing...”

“Lisa Myers delivered an enterprising report, on Friday's NBC Nightly News, on how a Senate committee is investigating possible UN "oil-for-food" program misdeeds by former Senator Robert Torricelli. But no where in her story did she identify Torricelli's party. He's a Democrat. The only party label in the story came in an on-screen "(R) Minnesota" for Senator Norm Coleman. Anchor Brian Williams summarized the oil-for-food program and then noted how "there are allegations that a former member of Congress may have been involved in part of the scandal." Myers began by reminding viewers of how "former Senator Robert Torricelli, forced to abandon a Senate race four years ago because of ethical lapses today is back under investigation again." She explained: "In 1996, then-Congressman Torricelli repeatedly lobbied Iraqi officials to give lucrative contracts to a company owned by Korean-American businessman David Chang, who later went to prison for making illegal campaign contributions to Torricelli."

mrc”

“Jefferson should go.

The Democrats are so riddled with corruption that they are definitely the second most corrupt political party in the country.

When I saw the story in Yahoo news - I knew Stove would be posting it here.
last edited: 5/22/06 8:49:47 AM”

“Boy! I wish I belonged and voted in one of the two potties of corruption.”

“COLD AS ICE


This bill's cold as ice...my boss says it won't suffice, no sir
This isn't very nice...he'll make me pay the price, no sir


I've not had a hundred that would ever snap
So Congressman Jefferson what is this crap
I bring pizza hot...right here to your door
I live off my tips...what are you doing this for?


This bill's cold as ice...my boss says it won't suffice, no sir
This isn't very nice...he'll make me pay the price, no sir


I don't understand dishonest Democrats
We search for corruption...that is where you're always at
One day a rich drunk drives off of a bridge
Now you hide your bribe money right there in your fridge


Cold as ice...it's freezing my hand
Cold as ice


This hundred is cold as ice
This hundred is cold as ice
This hundred is cold as ice”

“Paging Nancy Pelosi.
Paging Nancy Pelosi.
Paging Nancy Pelosi.

She may be right after all about a Culture of Corruption.

She is leading it.”

“They're all corrupt. Every last one of 'em. Maybe McCain is an exception. For some reason, he strikes me as a guy that has some sense of honor.”

“http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060522/pl_nm/crime_milbergweiss_politics_dc_2

Milberg Weiss gave top Democrats funding
By Jeremy Pelofsky


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP, the securities class action law firm indicted last week on fraud charges stemming from corporate lawsuits it filed, made large political contributions almost exclusively to Democrats since 1999, records show.

The firm and individuals there made $2.78 million in campaign donations to Democrats since 1999 compared to about $22,000 to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics.

Among the recipients were New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is a possible 2008 presidential candidate, senior New York Senator Charles Schumer and Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004.

On top of the $2.78 million, lawyers in the firm made contributions to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is the Democratic candidate for governor. Spitzer's office said on Monday that he plans to return $124,455 in contributions.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said Republicans would likely use the donations as ammunition in the November congressional elections and to blunt criticism about recent corruption scandals involving Republicans.

They will target "every individual Democrat in a competitive race in 2006 to begin with," Sabato said.

They also will mount "a P.R. offensive to make certain that this helps to balance the Democrats' charges of a culture of corruption that affects only Republicans," he said.

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group, compiled information about the law firm's campaign contributions at the request of Reuters.

The Democratic National Committee was one of the primary beneficiaries, receiving almost half the money, $1.28 million. Most of that was from the firm itself and included $500,000 for the DNC's new headquarters.

"We are looking into the matter," said DNC spokeswoman Stacie Paxton.

Milberg Weiss and two partners, David Bershad and Steven Schulman, were indicted last week on 20 counts of perjury, bribery and obstruction of justice. They were accused of illegally paying clients to act as plaintiffs in lawsuits against corporations.

The firm and the two lawyers have called the charges unjust.

President George W. Bush campaigned to limit the kinds of lawsuits filed by Milberg Weiss, and the Republican-controlled Congress last year passed a law that seeks to curb class-action lawsuits by shifting them to federal courts from state courts and linking attorneys' fees with the payouts for clients.

Class-action cases allow plaintiffs to combine claims into one suit against a common defendant. Democrats have defended the suits as a way for consumers to hold multi-billion corporations accountable.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and her political action committee received almost $24,000 in contributions from individuals at Milberg Weiss since 1999, according to the data.

"We will not be taking any action at this stage," Clinton's spokeswoman Ann Lewis said in an e-mail.

Schumer received $57,750 from individuals at the firm. His spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

The House and Senate Democratic campaign committees received $440,365 and $350,650 respectively from the firm and individuals there since 1999, the data showed.

Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP once reached number six in 2002 on the Center for Responsive Politics top 20 list of law firms and lobbyists that were contributors to lawmakers and political parties since 1999.

President Bush received $2,000 during the 2004 campaign in individual donations within the firm but his Democratic rival, Sen. Kerry, received $54,900 in individual contributions, the Center found.

Republicans and Democrats have returned more than $200,000 in contributions from clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January in a wide-ranging investigation into possible attempts to bribe lawmakers.

---------------------------------------------


My, my, my...........................
How the worm turns.”

“This is a REPUBLICAN scandal!”

“Yawn****another day in Washington.”

“McCain voted to give illegally paid social security payments back to the criminal aliens. That makes him corrupt.”

“Let's just say, hypothetically, that we got rid of all the democrats in positions of power. Frankly, a good portion of them are a bunch of worthless scumbags, just like their clones across the aisle, IMO. Where does that leave America?

And, please, don't hold back. These answers are bound to be priceless!”

“Same question for getting rid of all the republicans.

This should be awesome! Let her rip! HaHa!”

“Ok, I'll answer first. Sarge plays games as usual and answers a question with a question.

I believe neither side can be trusted with too much power. The balnace has been all repub for too many years and they've f_cked up too many things in this country. A balance of power is needed, first off. Now, the question of the quality of the individuals is another and tougher nut to crack...”

“http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/officials_jeffe.html

Officials: Jefferson Charges by July
May 23, 2006 9:07 AM

Brian Ross Reports:

Federal officials tell ABC News they already "have enough evidence to arrest" Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) but will wait until a grand jury in Virginia returns a formal indictment. Charges are expected within four to six weeks on allegations Jefferson took bribes in exchange for his official help with a telecommunications contract in Africa.

Department of Justice officials are considering making public redacted portions of the search warrant application to deflect criticism of the FBI's unprecedented raid on Capitol Hill.

Republicans and Democrats Monday suggested the FBI raid violated the Separation of Powers doctrine of the U.S. Constitution.

Some of the redacted pages reportedly lay out the month-long sequence by which the FBI had sought to obtain documents and computer discs from Jefferson's office through the use of a grand jury subpoena.

Officials say the House of Representatives General Counsel made copies of the requested documents and discs several weeks ago but then refused to turn them over.

Officials said Judge Thomas Hogan himself suggested the FBI request a search warrant for the Capitol Hill office of the Congressman, which Hogan authorized last Thursday.

The FBI used a special "filter team" of agents not connected with the case to guarantee that "politically sensitive" documents were not taken as evidence.

Congressman Jefferson has called the raid "outrageous" but declined to answer the question of whether he took bribes.”

“Get rid of the guy if he's corrupt. Who's arguing. I see I have no takers on my question. Figures!”

“Ok, I'll answer first. Sarge plays games as usual and answers a question with a question.

So much for Treebeard's Call for Civility. That didn't last long. First response and he's making insults. Typical!

PS - I didn't think you were making a serious question. It's absurd, so I couldn't imagine that you were really asking that. I thought it was a joke. Is that some kind of philosophical question or something? It's pretty sad if it is.”

“Raise your hand if you think Treebeard is just trying to pick fights.

”

“Are you that sensitive, Sarge, that informing you that you answered a question with a question makes me uncivil? Are you that volatile? Does it take that little to push your buttons?

I did come on with a serious truce. SS basically spit it back in my face, asserting that I am nothing short of 100% to blame for eveything bad that's ever been said concerning us. Then, you come on and pile on. There's no talking to you people. I made my attempt. You don't want it? No problem. Enjoy your life on TT. I have other things to do. Stove, best of luck in your quest to rid the world of Violin and Treebeard.”

“Would you like a tissue?”