[Vision2020] Jefferson's victory could pose ethics bind for Dems - USATODAY.com.htm

Sun Dec 10 22:33:44 PST 2006

Jefferson's victory could pose ethics bind for Dems - USATODAY.comOh! No! What will they do with all those ethics questions now??

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           Jefferson's victory could pose ethics bind for Dems 
            Updated 12/10/2006 9:35 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print |  

      WASHINGTON (AP) — In awarding Rep. William Jefferson a new lease on his political life, Louisiana voters this weekend also saddled Nancy Pelosi with another ethics quandary as she prepares to become the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives.
      "It's going to be quite a headache for the Democrats," Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Sunday.

      Jefferson easily won a runoff Saturday despite being dogged by a federal corruption investigation and FBI allegations that he had $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer. The first black member of Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction, Jefferson has not been charged with any crime and has denied wrongdoing. He returns to Washington for a ninth term under a cloud that will complicate Pelosi's vow to make this "the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history."

      JEFFERSON WINS:  Embattled Democrat captures runoff

      Democrats ran against a "culture of corruption" that they said Republicans had fostered while in control of Congress. Election Day surveys showed that corruption and scandal were deciding factors in how people voted.

      Last June, Pelosi pressed the House to strip Jefferson of a coveted committee assignment: a seat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi now may come under pressure to restore his committee assignment or at least place him on a committee where he could benefit New Orleans.

      Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for Pelosi, did not address committee assignments Sunday. In a statement, she said, "Leader Pelosi has said that it is up to the people of New Orleans to choose who represents them and they did that."

      After his victory speech Saturday night, Jefferson said: "I don't try to second-guess Ms. Pelosi. I don't go there to work for anyone, I go there to work with the people down here. And I want to work with everyone there. I hope we'll have a chance to talk later."

      Washington Democrats stayed out of Jefferson's campaign against Democratic state Rep. Karen Carter. The national party spent no money on behalf of Jefferson, and Carter significantly outraised and outspent Jefferson in the campaign.

      Republicans now see an opportunity to turn the tables on Democrats. "Jefferson is going to serve as a telling reminder for the American public that the Democrats and their leadership are all talk when it comes to ethics," said Kevin Madden, spokesman for House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

      Sloan said it will be difficult to deny Jefferson a committee assignment because another Democrat under FBI investigation, Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, is in line to be chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the bureau's budget. Mollohan, whose personal finances have come under scrutiny, is now the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee that sets the Justice Department budget.

      Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
            Posted 12/10/2006 9:29 PM ET  
            Updated 12/10/2006 9:35 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print |  

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