Since when does a Bush Republican help a Democrat?
May/24/06 11:33 PM
Mr. President,
Over the weekend the FBI in an unprecedented move, searched Capitol Hill suite of offices of Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, a Democrat representing Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District and the Republican Speaker of the House goes ballistic. Why?
The FBI had caught the Louisiana Democrat on camera accepting a $100,000 from a Virginia businesswoman who was secretly wearing a microphone. They later found $90,000 in a freezer in his home.
It looks like Jefferson, a Democrat in his eighth congressional term, is dead meat. The FBI probe which has already netted a former aide and a lobbyist that worked with Jefferson.
Brett Pfeffer his ex-aide and lobbyist Vernon Jackson have both pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges. Jefferson allegedly demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for his help securing business on two African telecommunications deals.
The FBI initiated a search of his offices after they said Jefferson refused to cooperate.
The search began at 7:15 p.m. ET in the Rayburn House Office Building, where Jefferson's office is located, said Debra Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman.
Jefferson declared his innocence on Monday during news conference outside the federal building in New Orleans and said he will not resign.
The House Ethics Committee has also opened an inquiry into the case.
Immediately after the news of the search hit the main stream media, Hastert's office condemned the FBI's intrusion into a house member's office.
Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, said on Monday, `They're standing on the branch that they're sawing off." He also said." This is an `outrageous intrusion' that violates the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches."
" I expect to seek a means to restore the delicate balance of power among the branches of government that the founders intended,'' Hastert said.
Hastert got with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and said, "They were 'very concerned' about the search, which was conducted under a warrant issued by a federal judge."
"Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it important to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this separation of powers line in order to successfully prosecute corruption by members of Congress," Hastert said.
"Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years," Hastert said.
Frist said legal experts from both; the Senate and House have been discussing "what a proper course of action is."
Hastert was almost hysterical with outrage.
It is really odd Hastert made such a big fuss over the FBI's weekend raid. Both the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader represents a lot of Capital Hill power.
Why?
There is no way Hastert would come to the aid of a Democrat without some type of significant benefit for himself. He would chew his right arm off first.
So today's announcement from ABC news of an FBI investigation of Hastert puts everything into perspective. If it's true, Fat boy Hastert is probably scared shitless of receiving the same type of treatment from the FBI.
And Hastert has a lot of explaining to do.
Hastert collected more than $100,000 in donations from Abramoff's firm and tribal clients between 2001 and 2004 for his support.
For two years, Hastert did acknowledge his use of Abramoff's restaurant for fundraising. The congressman blames a paperwork oversight and recently corrected it.
Hastert and many other lawmakers are under investigation for using their position to pushed for Abramoff's casino-operating tribes in exchange for campaign contributions and other perks which they received; sometimes within weeks of their efforts.
Once up on a time in another era, Congressional ethics rules call for lawmakers to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in performing their official duties and accepting political money.
But, since we are in Bush-world the Republican-led Congress must feel they can break the law anytime they want just like you.
The FBI investigation of Hastert has put him under a lot of pressure because he also made a pretty ridiculous statement last week on the House floor: "Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two, you don't pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don't pay any taxes, you are not going to get a big tax cut."
How would Fat boy look like in Orange? On the positive side if he goes to prison, he'll probably lose weight.
From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: May 24, 2006 11:44:33 PM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com
On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.
Over the weekend the FBI in an unprecedented move, searched Capitol Hill suite of offices of Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, a Democrat representing Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District and the Republican Speaker of the House goes ballistic. Why?
The FBI had caught the Louisiana Democrat on camera accepting a $100,000 from a Virginia businesswoman who was secretly wearing a microphone. They later found $90,000 in a freezer in his home.
It looks like Jefferson, a Democrat in his eighth congressional term, is dead meat. The FBI probe which has already netted a former aide and a lobbyist that worked with Jefferson.
Brett Pfeffer his ex-aide and lobbyist Vernon Jackson have both pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges. Jefferson allegedly demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for his help securing business on two African telecommunications deals.
The FBI initiated a search of his offices after they said Jefferson refused to cooperate.
The search began at 7:15 p.m. ET in the Rayburn House Office Building, where Jefferson's office is located, said Debra Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman.
Jefferson declared his innocence on Monday during news conference outside the federal building in New Orleans and said he will not resign.
The House Ethics Committee has also opened an inquiry into the case.
Immediately after the news of the search hit the main stream media, Hastert's office condemned the FBI's intrusion into a house member's office.
Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, said on Monday, `They're standing on the branch that they're sawing off." He also said." This is an `outrageous intrusion' that violates the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches."
" I expect to seek a means to restore the delicate balance of power among the branches of government that the founders intended,'' Hastert said.
Hastert got with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and said, "They were 'very concerned' about the search, which was conducted under a warrant issued by a federal judge."
"Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it important to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this separation of powers line in order to successfully prosecute corruption by members of Congress," Hastert said.
"Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years," Hastert said.
Frist said legal experts from both; the Senate and House have been discussing "what a proper course of action is."
Hastert was almost hysterical with outrage.
It is really odd Hastert made such a big fuss over the FBI's weekend raid. Both the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader represents a lot of Capital Hill power.
Why?
There is no way Hastert would come to the aid of a Democrat without some type of significant benefit for himself. He would chew his right arm off first.
So today's announcement from ABC news of an FBI investigation of Hastert puts everything into perspective. If it's true, Fat boy Hastert is probably scared shitless of receiving the same type of treatment from the FBI.
And Hastert has a lot of explaining to do.
Hastert collected more than $100,000 in donations from Abramoff's firm and tribal clients between 2001 and 2004 for his support.
For two years, Hastert did acknowledge his use of Abramoff's restaurant for fundraising. The congressman blames a paperwork oversight and recently corrected it.
Hastert and many other lawmakers are under investigation for using their position to pushed for Abramoff's casino-operating tribes in exchange for campaign contributions and other perks which they received; sometimes within weeks of their efforts.
Once up on a time in another era, Congressional ethics rules call for lawmakers to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in performing their official duties and accepting political money.
But, since we are in Bush-world the Republican-led Congress must feel they can break the law anytime they want just like you.
The FBI investigation of Hastert has put him under a lot of pressure because he also made a pretty ridiculous statement last week on the House floor: "Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two, you don't pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don't pay any taxes, you are not going to get a big tax cut."
How would Fat boy look like in Orange? On the positive side if he goes to prison, he'll probably lose weight.
From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: May 24, 2006 11:44:33 PM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com
On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.