Jefferson and the Freezer's Missing $10K

The Hill has the story:

Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) waited almost two years before notifying the House ethics committee of a loan he made to Vernon Jackson, the Kentucky businessman now in prison for bribing him, according to financial disclosures released yesterday.

The debt’s late disclosure to Congress could further hobble Jefferson’s defense when his case goes to trial in January and embolden the members in both parties calling for his resignation. According to Kentucky media reports, Jackson reported the loan to the FBI in August 2005.

[...]

A Jefferson spokesman declined yesterday to answer questions about the loan to Jackson. In a May 15 letter to Reps. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) and Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the chairman and ranking member of the ethics panel, Jefferson said the $10,000 “was extended on a personal basis to cover personal and family expenses” between April and June 2005.

The loan, which remains outstanding, may play a more infamous role in the government’s case against the embattled Louisianan. The $90,000 found in Jefferson’s freezer came out of the $100,000 offered him by government informant Lori Mody in July 2005, but little is known of the remaining $10,000 — other than its FBI status as accounted-for.

Brace yourself for more revelations of Dollar Bill's corrupt bidness dealings. What's really astonishing is that all of this grotesque rolling humiliation for the CBC and the Democratic Party at large could have been avoided. Had Democrats put enough energy behind Karen Carter's campaign against Jefferson this fall, she would have won and Jefferson would be a footnote rather than a front page story.

When something like a whole bunch of fake ids and credit cards are found under someone's floorboards or body is found buried in someone's backyard or perhaps $90,000 is found hidden in someone's freezer, usually things are likely to go downhill for that someone. This was predictable and avoidable. And we told you so.

More of this mess can be avoided if Jefferson is pushed harder to resign. Surely Democrats can figure this out. Or maybe they aren't so interested after all in differentiating their party from the GOP's history of winking at corrupt cronies.

Donna Edwards vs Al Wynn -- The Rematch

Here's Matt Stoller of MyDD raising money for Donna Edwards who is running once again against corporate whore Al Wynn.

Getting people like Wynn to support corporate-friendly policies has been a lynchpin of right-wing power, which means that Donna Edwards's challenge to Wynn is both critical and systemic. This is not a normal primary challenge, this is a clash of two systems of power, of influence, and of ideas. It's not a surprise that the Chamber is already weighing in on this race, for Wynn. This primary was critical in 2006, when her underfunded campaign, which was dismissed in DC because she did no polling, no TV, and only a bit of direct mail, nearly toppled Wynn, who was seen as invincible. It's even more critical now. Donna is a real, legitimate candidate. She is going to raise a lot of money, and she's going to fight for values and ideas that actually are progressive. We lost in 2006, and we see what that got us - a Democratic Party that is only responsive when it's convenient for them. We can't afford this kind of Democratic party, and we must support people like Donna in our movement to change it.

Why should you care? I mean, do you even live in Maryland?

Maybe not: but here's why. The CBC has a tension among sell-outs like Al Wynn who are the reason why we have to argue about the lunacy of doing a Democratic debate with Fox News. They are the reason we must endure the humiliation of Members of Congress supporting the re-election campaign of a man who had $90,000 in his freezer. They are the reason that our relatives and frat brothers and neighbors are still in Iraq. They are the reason all children still don't have access to healthcare in America. I could go on.

A new leadership is needed that will actually serve its constituents occasionally. It's like the fight between Dollar Bill Jefferson and Karen Carter. We need more Karen Carters and Donna Edwards. Black blogs -- let's start talking about how we help our brothers and sisters who need us into office -- including fundraising on places like ActBlue.

CBC's Response to Dollar Bill Jefferson -- A Mixed Bag

BTW: Dollar Bill's assets have been frozen by the feds. That's what can happen when you fill your freezer full of cold, hard cash. Ha.

Now that Jefferson stands indicted on some of the most serious charges filed against a sitting lawmaker, members of the Black Caucus are faced with the dilemma of offering their continued support or quietly looking for an out.

The simmering divisions were evident in the results of a vote Tuesday night, calling on the House ethics committee to investigate Jefferson and report back on whether he should be expelled from the House. Eighteen caucus members supported it, 13 opposed and three voted present. The resolution passed overwhelmingly, 373-26.

Some observers saw a generational divide in the results, with younger Black Caucus members backing an ethics investigation and older members urging caution. More senior members have memories stretching back to spurious investigations of African-American civil rights leaders.

Caucus members voting to investigate Dollar Bill include:

Democratic Reps. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, Charles B. Rangel of New York, Gregory W. Meeks of New York, Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri, John Lewis of Georgia and Mel Watt of North Carolina.

Congratulations to those with the sense God gave them. As for the rest:

Among those voting against the Republican resolution were some of Jefferson's longtime backers, including [James] Clyburn, Democratic Reps. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan, as well as some newcomers, such as freshman Democratic Reps. Yvette D. Clarke of New York and Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

Putting aside the black eye this gives Black America -- for his own dignity, Jefferson should resign. Unless he is expelled from Congress via procedural process or pushed out by the Dems, expect his current plan to remain in Congress until his day in court on Jan 18, 2008 to become an embarrassment for Dems during the presidential primaries.

h/t Politico Crypt

Conyers Smacks Back at Fox News

I firmly believe in applauding leadership and appropriate behavior rather than only being critical. Therefore, I'd like to join Color of Change and other bloggers in congratulating Rep. John Conyers for standing up to Fox News and asking the rest of the CBC to follow his lead. Conyers, a civil rights legend, deserves at least as much support from the CBC as um, Bill Jefferson.

Here's what CoC has to say:

"We applaud Chairman Conyers for calling attention to Fox’s history of marginalizing and denigrating black Americans," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "Today, we’re calling other CBC members to stand with Congressman Conyers and denounce Fox, a network that has called black churches cults, implied repeatedly that Senator Obama is a terrorist, and has used the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King’s funeral to call black leaders 'racist.'"

Fox News' on-air apology is completely inadequate and doesn't even mention Conyers at all! Conyers says no one called him personally prior to the on-air announcement to apologize. He's right. Watch below.



From USA Today (emphasis mine):

"Fox News has a history of inappropriate on-air mistakes that are neither fair, nor balanced," [Conyers] said Tuesday. "This type of disrespect for people of color should no longer be tolerated. I am personally offended by the network's complete disregard for accuracy in reporting and lackluster on-air apology."

[Brian] Wilson [Fox News Washington Bureau Chief] said he called Conyers' office on Tuesday to apologize. He said he spoke to a press secretary and asked what he could do to make amends, including coming to Conyers' office to apologize in person. No one got back to him, he said.

Conyers' press representative, Melanie Roussell, said the congressman was upset that Fox's on-air apology did not say specifically what the mistake was.

Fox News Channel has become a political issue itself recently, with Democratic presidential candidates refusing to appear in a debate sponsored by the network.

Funny how the AP failed to mention that the debate is supposed to be co-sponsored by the CBC and that's why it's a political issue for pete's sake! And Conyers is right on target. Media Matters points to another strikingly similar case of mistaken identity mingled with insidious racial undertones, just before an election, mind you (emphasis mine):

Indeed, as Conyers suggested, Fox News made a similar mistake during the November 6, 2006, edition of The Live Desk, as Media Matters documented at the time. Footage of [Harold] Ford played on-screen while MacCallum said, "I was reading something about evolution and it talked about virility and, you know, health and fitness and survival of the fittest. It's sort of a natural instinct, in many ways, to look at someone like Barack Obama as you point out, and say, you know, he looks young, he looks healthy, he looks strong."

Um -- Huh? Guess both Ford and Obama are healthy virile black bucks that would be strong behind the plow. Or something. Since when did you hear anyone talk about white Members of Congress and candidates like that. Give me a break, please.

Now there's a second, completely fallacious apology from Fox. View it here at ThinkProgress.
Basically they said the tape was mislabeled, but how could that be? Jefferson isn't even on that committee. That's footage from the Gonzales hearings, right? Big news story not too long ago. Do they just have a file that says "Negros in Congress" and pull at random? Um, so sorry. Try again. The "apology" actually manages the feat of being more insulting than the "mistake" itself. They sho' must think we colored folks is dumb as hell.

My hope is that FINALLY the CBC will understand who their true friends are (that would us, their constituents) and who has a back-stabbing agenda against them. I hope this is a turning point where they realize those piddling Fox donations to the CBC might have a cost that's too high for Black elected officials.

I know it may not always feel this way, Members of the CBC and Staff. Black bloggers like me really are ultimately on your side. Especially given that Conyers is a fellow blogger and should be a natural ally of African-American bloggers.

And seriously, we look to you, the CBC, as leaders. It's fantastic and inspiring when some of you actually behave like leaders.

A Fist in the Air Award also to the Honorable John Conyers and his staff.