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WASHINGTON - Rep. William J. Jefferson told congressional leaders Tuesday that he plans to take a temporary leave of absence from the House Small Business Committee after his indictment on charges of receiving more than $500,000 in bribes, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Jefferson's announcement had not been made public, said the Louisiana Democrat was stepping down while his legal affairs are resolved. A spokeswoman for the congressman did not have immediate comment. Jefferson's decision to take a leave from the panel comes a few days before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

WASHINGTON - An indictment charging Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., in a long-running bribery investigation is being announced Monday, federal officials said. The indictment is being handed up in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. A press conference was being organized for late Monday in Washington to discuss the case.

<p>Sources tell CBS NEWS that Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) will be indicted this afternoon on more than a dozen counts involving public corruption. Jefferson has been the subject of a ongoing probe in which FBI agents allegedly found more than 90-thousand dollars in cash in his freezer. The Justice Department is expected to unveil the charges later today... Developing...</p>

Under pressure from House Republicans, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) may be backing away from a plan to place Rep. William J. Jefferson on the Homeland Security Committee. “It’s being considered,” a Democratic aide acknowledged Monday. Jefferson, D-La., who is the subject of a federal bribery investigation, was tapped last month by Pelosi to serve on the panel because it oversees much of the recovery effort in his New Orleans district. The House Democratic Caucus approved the appointment last week. Only a procedural vote on the House floor was needed to make him an official member of the...

Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton reported Thursday that House Republicans will move for an unusual vote protesting the new committee assignment of Democratic Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, the congressman still under investigation for the $90,000 in bribe money found in his home freezer. After removing Jefferson from the powerful Ways and Means Committee last year as the Democrats ran against a "culture of corruption," Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi now wants to place him on the Homeland Security Committee. Layton's story highlights Jefferson's role as a "vocal critic of FEMA's performance" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans...

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), who stripped embattled Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) of his seat on a powerful tax committee last year, has decided to put him on the Homeland Security panel, infuriating some Republicans who charge he may be a security risk. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, was kicked off the Ways and Means Committee amid a federal bribery probe, yet still won re-election to a ninth term. Pelosi is giving him a seat on the panel after Jefferson was outspoken in his criticism of the homeland security agencies that responded to...

Rep. Jefferson Goes Into Debt in Re-Election BidPublished: January 10, 2007 This story is based on a report published by CQ’s Political Money Line on Jan. 10. Louisiana Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson overcame harsh allegations of ethical misconduct to win a Dec. 9 House election runoff — securing a ninth term with an unexpectedly comfortable 57 percent to 43 percent win over a fellow Democrat, state Rep. Karen Carter. But a report by CQ’s Political Money Line shows that snatching victory from the jaws of defeat came at a high personal cost to Jefferson. The Political Money Line analysis...

On only the fourth day of the new year, we’ve decided that the 2007 “Some Nerve!” award goes to ... Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). You might think that a guy who’s still the subject of a federal bribery investigation would be more careful than to use taxpayer resources to raise campaign money. But nope, not Jefferson. And heck, he still hasn’t provided us with that “honorable explanation” he promised for the bizarro (and alleged) $90,000 in cash federal agents confiscated from a freezer in his Capitol Hill home. Last week, House Democrats were shocked to receive a letter from Jefferson...

WASHINGTON - House Democrats, insistent that they will hold lawmakers to higher standards, decided Tuesday that Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) will not return to an influential committee until a federal corruption investigation involving him is completed. Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi said the Democratic Steering Committee had resolved that Jefferson, who last Saturday won a runoff election in his New Orleans district, will not be given back his spot on the Ways and Means Committee, the panel that determines tax and trade policies. At Pelosi's urging, the House last June stripped Jefferson of his committee assignment because of the...

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- U.S. Rep. William Jefferson easily defeated his fellow Democratic opponent in a runoff election Saturday, despite an ongoing federal bribery investigation. In complete but unofficial returns, Jefferson, Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction, received 57 percent of the vote over state Rep. Karen Carter, who had 43 percent. Carter was unable to capitalize on a scandal that included allegations the FBI found $90,000 in bribe money in Jefferson's freezer. In a concession speech, Carter embraced family members and pledged to work with Jefferson, especially on the area's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. "I guess the people...

Dr. G. J. Hodge cheers at a victory party for Congressman William Jefferson D-New Orleans in New Orleans Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006. Jefferson defeated democratic State Representative Karen Carter for re-election .(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

ON ICE: WM. JEFFERSON'S FREEZER19 vs. THE WM. JEFFERSON CLINTONS' SWISS ACCOUNTS (REMEMBERING VINCE FOSTER'S QUICKIE TRIPS TO SWITZERLAND20) by Mia T, 12.10.06 THE DRAMATIC INCREASE IN HILLARY CLINTON'S DISCLOSED ASSETS: An Alternative Theory(Why we must defeat the clintons NOW: part 2) by Mia T, 9.22.06   ormer clinton political guru, Dick Morris, and his wife and partner, Eileen McGann, are positing a theory of clinton enrichment that attempts to explain the dramatic increase--from as little as $352,000 in 2003 to as much as $50,000,000 in 2005--in hillary clinton's disclosed assets. 1 The authors ask and answer what they believe...

Congressman William Jefferson has been re-elected to Congress, according to WWL-TV election analyst Greg Rigamer. With two-thirds of the vote counted, Jefferson had a 6,000-vote lead over challenger Karen Carter. "I'm a little worried about what this is going to say to the nation," said City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, a Carter supporter. Jefferson was forced into the runoff against a fellow Democrat when he failed to win 50 percent of the vote in a crowded open multiparty primary. His opponent, state Rep. Karen Carter, is seeking to become the first black woman from Louisiana elected to Congress. Jefferson, 59, has...

NEW ORLEANS - Embattled U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) hunted for votes among churchgoers Sunday as he headed into the final week of a campaign to hold onto his seat and salvage his political fortunes. FBI raids on his homes and his congressional office, including allegations in an FBI affidavit that he hid $90,000 in bribe money in a freezer, have left Jefferson vulnerable for the first time since he won the seat in 1990. In the Nov. 7 open multiparty primary, the Democratic congressman netted 30 percent of the vote, considered a poor showing for an...

Cold Cash Congressman Says He Has 'Never Taken a Bribe' in New Campaign Ad December 01, 2006 11:50 AMAvni Patel Reports: Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson (D-La.) has taken to the airwaves to unequivocally deny the allegations that have plagued him for months. "I have never taken a bribe from anyone,"  he asserts in a new campaign ad. Jefferson is running for re-election despite being at the center of a federal bribery investigation. He faces a run-off against fellow Democrat State Rep. Karen Carter on Dec. 9. Carter has seized on the probe in her campaign against Jefferson, and recently...

Corruption Is Issue in New Orleans RaceReuters Updated:2006-11-01 09:04:06 Rep. William Jefferson (Alex Brandon, AP) NEW ORLEANS, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The battle to represent hurricane-battered New Orleans in Congress should turn on which candidate can best help rebuild the city but the buzz is about how $90,000 in cold hard cash ended up in the Democratic incumbent's freezer. Until the FBI found the money wrapped in foil as part of a sting operation in May, eight-term congressman William Jefferson seemed certain to be re-elected on Nov. 7 to represent Louisiana's 2nd district, much of which lay under water after...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The battle to represent hurricane-battered New Orleans in Congress should turn on which candidate can best help rebuild the city but the buzz is about how $90,000 in cold hard cash ended up in the Democratic incumbent's freezer. Until the FBI found the money wrapped in foil as part of a sting operation in May, eight-term congressman William Jefferson seemed certain to be re-elected on November 7 to represent Louisiana's 2nd district, much of which lay under water after Hurricane Katrina hit in late August 2005. Jefferson denies wrongdoing but the investigation into whether he took...

Unbowed Jefferson Keeps Up the FightBy Allan Lengel Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 22, 2006; Page A05 NEW ORLEANS -- At a barbershop in the Third Ward, in an area still woozy from Hurricane Katrina's knockout punch, the chatter was about what to do with Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.). **SNIP** "I ain't voting for him 'cause of the $100,000 in the freezer," retorted one of Harris's customers, a former Jefferson supporter who declined to give his name. "You find $100,000 in your freezer, I ain't voting for you." **SNIP** In a TV ad, he talks about "the presumption...

BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Democratic Party turned down eight-term U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) on Saturday and endorsed state Rep. Karen Carter, one of a dozen challengers who emerged after Jefferson became the target of a federal bribery investigation. The State Central Committee's 69-53 vote, at a special meeting to decide whom to endorse in Louisiana's open primaries Nov. 7, was the first time in recent memory that an incumbent had failed to win the state party's endorsement. All seven of the state's congressional seats are open. Jefferson denies the bribery allegations and has not...

BATON ROUGE, La. - U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), whose Washington office was raided by the FBI amid a federal bribery investigation, will face a dozen challengers in the November election. The official sign-up period for Louisiana's Nov. 7 congressional election ended Friday. In Louisiana, there are no earlier party primaries; if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote on Election Day, the top two go to a December runoff. Although some are lesser-knowns, a few challengers carry significant name recognition, political ties and fundraising potential that could lead the eight-term Democrat into his...