6/5/2007 6:39:00 AM Editorial: Now it's the Democrats' turn for corruption
The term "Congressional Ethics" became even more of an oxymoron Monday with the indictment of Louisiana Democrat Congressman William Jefferson on multiple corruption charges.
Jefferson made headlines a bit more than a year ago when FBI agents raided his capitol office and home after catching him on video tape accepting a bribe from someone he believed to be an African national.
Agents found $90,000 in cash in Jefferson's refrigerator freezer compartment.
The Associated Press reported that a federal court indictment in Alexandria, Va., charges Jefferson with 16 offenses carrying prison terms totaling as long as 235 years.
Charges include racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.
Prosecutors say Jefferson solicited bribes from 11 different companies for himself and his family and also bribed a Nigerian official. They say Jefferson even set up a front company to hide the money from the complicated scheme.
The people of his district in Louisiana, which includes New Orleans, re-elected Jefferson this past fall in the full knowledge of the raid on his office and discovery of the $90,000. Louisiana has a long tradition of political corruption and maintenance of African-Americans as a dependent class, so his
re-election is no surprise.
As noted many times in these columns, congressional venality is a ubiquitous, bi-partisan enterprise. Many of the latest congressional corruption cases have involved Republicans, because Republicans were in charge and had the power.
This case is interesting, because it's one of the first cases involving a Democrat to arise since Democrats took control of Congress on the heels of a campaign that railed against Republican corruption.
"If these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told the AP. "Democrats are committed to upholding a high ethical standard and eliminating corruption and unethical behavior from the Congress."
She's still talking the talk. It will be interesting to see if she and fellow Democrats walk the walk.
