The
scandal that's surrounding Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) is worse for the Democrats than the scandals surrounding Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH).
It's worse because it's easier to explain to people and for the public to understand. And it's on videotape.
And it destroys the Democrats' talking point about the corruption in the Congress being squarely on the GOP side.
A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.
At one audiotaped meeting, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company's deal for work in Africa.
Rep. Jefferson is a crook. Spare me the cries about how he was trapped by the FBI...he knew exactly what he was doing when he took that $100,000 bribe.
You don't have to understand the House ethics rules, much less how legislation is actually made in Washington, to understand the Jefferson scandal. It's good old bribery, plain and simple.
The DeLay scandal, which is far worse in terms of its effect on democracy in this nation, is nonetheless murkier and harder to explain. For a trial lawyer, it's not as good of a story to present to the jury...you have to explain TX campaign finance law, the House rules, the census/redistricting issue, etc., in order to get people to see what was so bad about DeLay.
Similarly, with Ney, you have to explain how gifts bestowed on a Congressman's staff is just as bad as if bestowed on him, how a golf trip and dinners at a DC restaurant as something to be all worked up about.
But Jefferson...it's just bribery. He's on videotape taking $100,000 from an FBI agent. And he hid the cash in his freezer.
Dammit. Dammit all to hell.