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There was a strange mixture of stalwart support and utter abandonment at U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's election party Saturday night as the indicted congressman claimed a primary victory in his 10th election campaign for the 2nd District seat. The party was at Flavorz by Mattie, a little-known restaurant in an eastern New Orleans neighborhood ravaged by the post-Katrina jack-o'-lantern effect. The room was half empty, with only about 35 supporters and family cheering on Jefferson and eating a late dinner of jambalaya and croissant sandwiches. There were no big political names in the crowd. Supporters appeared to be outnumbered by...

NEW ORLEANS – A 28-year political career was on the line Saturday for indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, who is fighting bribery charges as he tries to fend off six Democrats in the primary for his New Orleans-based congressional seat. No one was expecting Jefferson or any of the other six candidates to garner the majority needed to win the nomination outright. Jefferson, seeking his 10th term, hoped to survive by taking either first or second place and moving on to a Nov. 4 runoff. A victory then would put him in a Dec. 6 general election in the heavily...

Even as he faces a 16-count federal indictment on charges that include racketeering and soliciting bribes, Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) may be down, but he isn’t out. At least not yet. Devoid of virtually any influence in Congress and with his campaign treasury almost empty, Jefferson may still have a path to victory in the Democratic primary next month. By virtue of his high name identification and a small cadre of die-hard supporters, he is hoping to win enough votes in the crowded Oct. 4 primary to head into a runoff. And his likely runoff opponent is the only white...

Sentencing postponed for Congressman Bill Jefferson's sister by The Associated Press Wednesday August 27, 2008, 8:38 AM **SNIP** Brenda Jefferson, the youngest sister of Bill Jefferson, pleaded guilty in June to helping three of her relatives conceal an alleged scheme to pocket more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon agreed to reschedule Brenda Jefferson's sentencing from September 24 to February 11. She pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. Prosecutors said they need more time to evaluate her cooperation in the case against her sister, New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson;...

WASHINGTON, August 8 - Panelists and the moderator of a panel at the Young America’s Foundation national conservative student conference on Thursday decried the old media’s reluctance to continue to keep Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., and Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., under the microscope for alleged ethical lapses. Moderator Jason Mattera, of Young America’s Foundation, and panelists Kathryn Lopez of National Review Online, Mary Katherine Ham of Washington Examiner, and A.J. Rice of Talk Radio Network decried what they view as mainstream liberal bias for not giving adequate press coverage of Murtha and Jefferson. They were speaking on a panel, “Promoting...

(Tenth in a series of ten. For other articles in this series, click on View all articles by John Armor--and "Blogs by this author.") The remaining amendments are a mixed bag. Some make essential changes, some housekeeping. The Eleventh solved a minor problem, precluding federal court jurisdiction in cases against any state by citizens of another state, or foreigners. The first important amendment was number Twelve, caused by the election of 1800. Perhaps the greatest lie uttered by anyone seeking the presidency was made by Aaron Burr. He agreed to be vice president under Thomas Jefferson in 1800. The “ticket”...

Making good on a promise to a friend to summarize his views on Christianity, Thomas Jefferson set to work with scissors, snipping out every miracle and inconsistency he could find in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then, relying on a cut-and-paste technique, he reassembled the excerpts into what he believed was a more coherent narrative and pasted them onto blank paper -- alongside translations in French, Greek and Latin. In a letter sent from Monticello to John Adams in 1813, Jefferson said his "wee little book" of 46 pages was based on a lifetime of...

Last month, workmen jacked up a 206-year-old yellow clapboard house, levered it onto a set of remote-controlled dollies, and trundled it two blocks to a new site in St. Nicholas Park, overlooking East Harlem in New York City. The Grange, as it is called, was the home of Alexander Hamilton, best known as co-author of the Federalist papers and America's first secretary of the Treasury. But this founding father also had an extraordinary role in the infant nation's attempt to come to grips with the curse of slavery. Born in the West Indies, Hamilton was one of the most ardent...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – President George W. Bush will attend the July 4 event at Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, the White House has announced. Bush will be the featured speaker at Monticello’s 46th annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. He will become the fourth sitting president to participate in Independence Day activities at Monticello, joining Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936), Harry S. Truman (1947), and Gerald R. Ford (1976). “We are truly honored to have President Bush as our featured speaker on July 4, and regard it as a great compliment that he has chosen to spend part of the...

What follows is Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence from his Autobiography. A good portion of the text was deleted or changed by the Congressional delegates; these deletions are indicated by brackets (the last two paragraphs, Jefferson's original and Congress's version are presented side by side in Jefferson's text and here); changes made by Congress are also in brackets but are clearly marked. It was very important to Jefferson that he preserve his original document alongside the version eventually signed. Why? What are the significant differences? What do you make of these deletions? In the second paragraph,...

3 Jefferson relatives plead innocent Three relatives of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., have pleaded innocent to charges they ripped off three charities they founded. Mose Jefferson; his sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson; and her daughter, Angela Coleman all entered pleas at an arraignment hearing Friday, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported. They are accused of skimming more than $600,000 from three non-profit groups. U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore told the trio to avoid any contact with Brenda Foster, who pleaded guilty Wednesday. Foster, who also goes by the name Brenda Jefferson, is a sibling of the congressman, as well...

One of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's sisters pleaded guilty Wednesday to concealing a crime for her role in alleged scheme to defraud the federal government. Brenda Jefferson, 52, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. Prosecutors have charged three other Jefferson family members with pocketing more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money intended for charitable and educational projects. New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson, her brother, Mose Jefferson, and her daughter, Angela Coleman, are scheduled to appear in court Friday on charges that include federal program fraud, identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Brenda Jefferson, also...

Louisiana: Indicted Lawmaker to Run for Re-electionBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 18, 2008 Representative William J. Jefferson, a Democrat facing trial on corruption charges, has announced that he will seek re-election to a 10th term. Mr. Jefferson made his announcement in a news release that emphasized his experience and portrayed him as someone who still wielded power in Congress despite the case against him. The last time he ran for re-election was in 2006. The corruption accusations were a persistent problem for him then, but he overcame the odds and won in a landslide. He has since been indicted,...

Jefferson trial set to start Dec. 2Judge stands firm on Virginia venue Saturday, June 14, 2008 By Bruce Alpert ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III set a Dec. 2 trial date Friday in the federal corruption case of Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, although the judge admitted that it could be delayed again. **SNIP** A December start means the trial would occur after the fall congressional elections. Jefferson hasn't said whether he's running for a 10th term. In an interview earlier this week, Jefferson said he never announces in advance of qualifying and that his lack of...

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced this afternoon that 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, an elder sister of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, has been indicted on a host of fraud-related charges by a federal grand jury. Also indicted were Jefferson's daughter, Angela Coleman, and her brother, the previously indicted Mose Jefferson. The charges are the culmination of a probe into charities run by members of the Jefferson family and their allies. In a rare move, the FBI announced it was investigating the nonprofits after a 2006 Times-Picayune story revealed apparent self-dealing at them. The newspaper's report noted that former City Councilwoman...

I do not argue that the problems of early 21st-century Europe are identical to those of late 18th-century America. I am now myself a federalist. Yet the Americans did have to face similar problems in trying to reconcile the relationship of the federal government with the individual states - the very questions that confront Europe in the Lisbon treaty. The American Constitution has succeeded in providing the US with a stable democratic framework that has survived the great changes of the past two centuries, including - in the 20th century - two world wars, a Cold War and a slump....

A federal judge has refused to dismiss bribery charges against Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). Jefferson is accused of orchestrating a complicated, and multi-layered scheme to receive bribes from companies seeking business in Western Africa. Proving bribery against a lawmaker is difficult because prosecutors must show that the defendant provided an “official act” such as a voting a certain way or sponsoring legislation in return for money or items he received. His lawyers argued that Jefferson didn’t do anything in his capacity as a congressman that could be considered a bribe. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III turned that legal...

Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) lawyers have asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling denying a change of venue for his corruption trial. The attorneys want to make their case for the venue transfer on June 13 before Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III. They argue that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., because there likely will be fewer black jurors where the case is located now in Alexandria, Va. to evaluate the charges against Jefferson, who is black. Moreover, the lawyers contend, most of the alleged activities took place in Washington, D.C., not Northern Virginia. “The...

Jefferson trial venue questions renewedLatest request cites Supreme Court case Wednesday, May 07, 2008 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, asked a federal judge Tuesday to reconsider his ruling against a change of venue in the corruption case against the congressman. They had argued that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., and that the government chose suburban Virginia because there is a smaller pool of African-American jurors to consider the charges against Jefferson, who is black. Their latest request to Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III was based in part on...

County commissioners reaffirmed their stance against the Trans-Texas Corridor, and they took another step toward keeping county government transparent when they met Tuesday. First up on the court's agenda, commissioners heard a presentation by Connie Fogle on behalf of the newly formed Pineywoods Sub-Regional Planning Commission. According to Fogle, the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 391, requires state agencies to coordinate with local commissions to "ensure effective and orderly implementation of state programs at the regional level." "Critical in the code is the word 'coordinate,'" she said. "This does not mean the commission has to cooperate. The intent is to...

Mose Jefferson walks into the federal building in New Orleans last June. Jefferson, brother to U.S. Congressman William Jefferson, is expected to by indicted today for bribing former school board president Ellenese Brooks-Simms. Mose Jefferson, the eldest brother and chief political strategist of embattled U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, is expected to be indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges that he repeatedly bribed Ellenese Brooks-Simms, the former president of the Orleans Parish School Board, to ensure her support for a computer-based algebra curriculum he was selling.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday refused to step into a high-stakes legal fight between the Justice Department and indicted Rep. William Jefferson over the unprecedented raid on the lawmaker's Capitol Hill office. The Justice Department said the court's action would not impede the bribery case against the Louisiana Democrat. The justices declined to review an appeals court ruling that said that, while the office search itself was legal, the FBI reviewed legislative documents in violation of the Constitution. Other documents seized in the raid were provided to prosecutors and were used to support a 16-count indictment of Jefferson...

Way cleared for Congressman Jefferson's appealby Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune Friday March 21, 2008, 7:54 AM WASHINGTON -- A judge's ruling Thursday should restart the stalled legal proceedings in Rep. William Jefferson's efforts to have a federal appeals court throw out 14 of 16 criminal charges against him. The ruling by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III about grand jury documents is likely to free the Justice Department to ask the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., for expedited consideration of the New Orleans Democrat's appeal and allow that court to set dates for the filings of briefs...

Though the most Deistic of the Founding Fathers, even Jefferson was not a full-fledged Deist if we accept that philosophy as having had two fundamental tenets: a rejection of biblical revelation and a conviction that God, having created the laws of the universe, had receded from day-to-day control and intervention. Jefferson clearly did agree with the first part of Deism. But he did not agree with the second. Jefferson seemed to believe in a God who was still present in, and intervened in, the lives of men and nations. After having read Jefferson attack so many of the legs of...

Guilty plea filed in bribe caseDaughter follows mother to court Wednesday, March 12, 2008 By Gordon Russell Stacy Simms, a City Hall appointee under two New Orleans mayors and the daughter of former Orleans Parish School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to helping her mother access a series of bribes that totaled $140,000 over several years. Court documents have identified the source of the bribes as Mose Jefferson, the elder brother and chief political strategist of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who is awaiting trial himself in Virginia on 16 unrelated bribery-related counts. Mose Jefferson...

Civil suit in iGate case is delayedASSOCIATED PRESS Posted on Tue, Feb. 26, 2008 LOUISVILLE --The civil case against an indicted Louisiana congressman and a former business associate was delayed Monday until the criminal case against the lawmaker is over. U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson halted proceedings against Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson; his wife; and Vernon Jackson, former chief executive of the Louisville-based telecommunications firm iGate. Simpson said little could be done to advance the case while the criminal charges are pending. Jefferson's criminal trial on racketeering and other charges was scheduled to begin Monday in Alexandria, Va., but...

Prison breakBy Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh Sunday, February 24, 2008 Vernon Jackson and Brett Pfeffer, key figures in the federal prosecution of Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, were released recently from federal prison -- but it was only temporary. Their release from federal prison facilities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia was ordered so that they could testify at Jefferson's federal corruption trial. But with the trial, which had been scheduled to begin Monday, postponed while a federal appellate court considers an appeal of a pretrial ruling, from Jefferson's attorneys, it's likely they will be returned to their prison cells...

Many leading figures in the fields of science, politics and the arts have achieved success because they had autism, a leading psychiatrist has claimed.Michael Fitzgerald, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin, argued the characteristics linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were the same as those associated with creative genius. (l-r) George Orwell, Albert Einstein and Thomas Jefferson Prof Fitzgerald cited Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, George Orwell, H G Wells and Ludwig Wittgenstein as examples of famous and brilliant individuals who showed signs of ASDs including Asperger syndrome.Beethoven, Mozart, Hans Christian Andersen and Immanuel Kant have also received post mortem...

La. Rep. Jefferson appeals judge's ruling; trial to be delayedAssociated Press - February 20, 2008 6:24 PM ET McLEAN, Va. (AP) - The trial of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, who's charged with bribery, will be delayed so an appellate court can hear arguments on whether his status as a congressman protects him from prosecution. Jefferson's trial was scheduled to start Monday. Defense lawyers filed their appeal today in federal court in Alexandria. The appeal had been expected since earlier this month, when U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis the Third rejected the argument that the 16-count indictment should be tossed because...

Jefferson strategies may be incompatible One defense Rep. William Jefferson has mounted to contest federal bribery charges against him might be undermining another defense he has raised. Jefferson contends he shouldn't be charged with public bribery because he never performed "official acts," such as voting or introducing legislation, to promote business ventures in Africa. He also has tried to get the bribery charges thrown out by saying the grand jury that indicted him in June heard details of his legislative activities in violation of the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause. But in a written ruling last week, U.S. District Judge...

Judge refuses to toss out indictment against La. congressman2/6/2008, 6:07 p.m. CST The Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge has refused to toss out an indictment against a Louisiana congressman accused of taking bribes, rejecting the argument that the indictment unconstitutionally infringed on his privileges as a congressman. The ruling Wednesday could prompt a delay in the trial of Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, who faces up to 235 years in prison on bribery and other charges. According to court papers, defense lawyers have indicated they will likely appeal the ruling. Normally defendants are only allowed to appeal such...

Streisand pitches in as leaders write checks to defense fundsBy Susan Crabtree Posted: 02/04/08 06:38 PM [ET] For lawmakers faced with mounting legal bills, itÂ’s good to have friends in high places with deep pockets. Members of the leadership on both sides of the aisle cut checks to legally embattled House colleagues, and even Barbra Streisand contributed $1,000 to Rep. Jim McDermottÂ’s (D-Wash.) legal expense fund. Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who will face trial late this month on an array of bribery and corruption charges, has collected a total of $166,550 since 2005 to help defray legal costs. Members of...

Jefferson nickname will be left out of trialProsecution won't call him 'Dollar Bill' Friday, February 01, 2008 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- The lead prosecutor in the government's corruption case against Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, says the government doesn't intend to mention the congressman's "Dollar Bill" nickname, used by his political enemies, unless the defense claims he is the "victim of entrapment or outrageous government conduct." The stipulation is in a letter from prosecutor Mark Lytle to Jefferson's lead attorney, Robert Trout, released Thursday by the Virginia federal court where Jefferson will face 16 bribery-related charges in a trial...

The Department of Justice has subpoenaed six current and former House aides to testify in next month’s trial of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who faces a wide array of public corruption and bribery charges, according to a knowledgeable source. The current House aides include Paul Arcangeli, a professional staffer on the House Armed Services Committee, and Roberta Hopkins and Stephanie Butler, who work in Jefferson’s office. In addition, the DoJ has subpoenaed three former employees of Jefferson, although the names of those individuals have not been specified, the source said. The House general counsel’s office is representing all six staffers...

Watchdogs hit Jefferson on ‘blood diamond’ tripsBy Susan Crabtree Posted: 01/23/08 12:01 AM [ET] Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who is fighting a wide array of corruption and bribery charges, violated House ethics rules in failing to report three trips to Botswana aimed at convincing him to oppose limits on “blood diamond” imports into the U.S., according to ethics experts. Jefferson, whose name recently turned up in the prosecution of a former diamond executive in Botswana, took four trips to that country beginning with a 2001 trip sponsored by the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower in April 2001. Jefferson...

Jefferson linked to Africa diamonds caseBy CAIN BURDEAU Associated Press Writer NEW ORLEANS --Rep. William Jefferson, facing a federal trial on corruption charges, has been linked to the prosecution of a former diamond executive in Botswana, opening a new window onto the congressman's dealings in Africa. The New Orleans Democrat and his family allegedly were the recipients of illegally funded trips to Botswana in 2001 and 2002, according to charges Botswanan prosecutors have filed against the former director of the Debswana Diamond Co. Ltd., a partnership between diamond giant De Beers SA and the Botswana government. Jefferson has not been...

Liberal talk shows and bloggers are falling all over themselves ridiculing presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee for his recent remarks in Michigan. A closer look at Huck’s controversial statement will prove that he wasn’t the first one to come up with the ideas he has espoused.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Louisiana congressman accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes told a judge Thursday that FBI agents who interviewed him back in 2005 were so overbearing that they even followed him into the bathroom of his own home. Testifying under oath for the first time in his bribery case, Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat, contradicted the testimony of FBI agents who said the August 2005 interview was cordial and friendly. Jefferson is seeking to suppress statements to FBI agents during the interview, as well as evidence seized from the home. Jefferson's lawyers argued that...

Botswana: Senator Jefferson Graces Nchindo Charge SheetMmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) 10 January 2008 Posted to the web 10 January 2008 Tshireletso Motlogelwa The embattled United States Senator, William Jefferson has turned up in the charge sheet brought by the prosecution against former Debswana chief executive, Louis Nchindo and other senior members of the company. Jefferson, who late last year was served with a 95 page long indictment by the US department of justice on a wide range of criminal charges relating to his various trips to Africa, visited Botswana a few years ago on two occasions. Late last year, the media...

Feds spell out names in graft caseJefferson's wife, brother and son-in-law listed Tuesday, January 08, 2008 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is for the first time disclosing the names of business executives and family members it says are connected to the public corruption case against Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans. **SNIP** Among the allegations in the Justice Department's brief: -- The congressman's son-in-law Philip Jones had a 2003 contract for 5 percent of each $7 million garbage-to-energy incinerator he helped LETH Energy, now Global Environmental Inc., sell in Nigeria. Jones' agreement called for him to provide the...

Rep. Jefferson put FBI onto lobbyist witnessJim Creaghan to testify at trial By GERARD SHIELDS Advocate Washington bureau Published: Jan 7, 2008 - Page: 1A WASHINGTON — When the FBI interviewed U.S. Rep. William Jefferson for two hours before the August 2005 search of his home, the New Orleans Democrat mentioned a name the agents didn’t recognize: Jim Creaghan. The Baton Rouge energy lobbyist quickly became a cooperating witness in the public corruption case against Jefferson. “Creaghan was the only person the congressman named during two hours that I didn’t know,” Tim Thibault, the lead FBI agent in the case,...

Jefferson's help had a price, feds sayPair expected to testify on incinerator firm Monday, December 24, 2007 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- He is a former aide to the late Sen. Russell Long, D-La., who became an energy lobbyist. She is a Florida businesswoman who has invested in a number of struggling businesses with potential for big profits. What James Creaghan and Noreen Wilson have in common, according to the Justice Department, is a reliance on U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, to help win contracts in western Africa. The government says that in return for that help, the congressman...

THE omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress Wednesday contains $1 million in earmarks requested by Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who is under federal criminal indictment for racketeering, money laundering and solicitation of bribes. Jefferson got a $500,000 earmark to finance bus facilities for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and another $500,000 earmark for speed-rail corridors crossings in Louisiana and Mississippi.

(AP) -- WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to toss out a lower court ruling that says the FBI was wrong to raid Democratic Rep. William Jefferson's office, a decision the Bush administration argues will hinder corruption investigations of Congress. In an appeal filed this week, government lawyers said that only the nation's highest court can decide whether the 18-hour raid was an unconstitutional breach of congressional authority or a proper tactic in a lengthy corruption inquiry. "Only this court can resolve this important question," the Justice Department wrote in its 28-page appeal, filed Wednesday. "Until...

Agent: FBI had questions about Jefferson since 1990s ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The FBI had information about potentially shady business deals involving a Louisiana congressman going back the late 1990s _ at least eight years before he was indicted for taking bribes, an FBI agent testified Thursday. FBI agent Timothy Thibault said during a pretrial hearing at U.S. District Court that he found a bureau document from the late 1990s questioning Rep. William Jefferson's business deals with a sugar company. It was not immediately clear what investigation, if any, occurred at the time. Jefferson, a Democrat from New Orleans, was indicted...

Lawyers for Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), looking to suppress evidence from his trial on corruption charges, questioned federal agents in court Wednesday about their August 2005 search of his home. The lawyers argued that photographs taken by agents of correspondence between Jefferson, his brother and companies looking to invest in Africa shouldn’t be shown to a jury because they weren’t listed in the search warrant. Lisa Horner, the leader of the FBI search team, testified that photographing the documents, instead of seizing them, was the more conservative, and thus appropriate, approach. Federal prosecutors said that Jefferson tried to use the...

Congress Pressed on Founders' Papers More than 200 years after they were written, huge portions of the papers of America's founding fathers are still decades away from being published, prompting a distinguished group of scholars and federal officials to pressure Congress to speed the process along. Teams of experts have been laboring since Harry Truman was president in the late 1940s to compile and annotate the letters, correspondence and documents of George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. About $58 million has been spent in the past 30 years alone. Yet, according to a study by...

A federal judge has set the corruption case of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) for Feb. 25. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis reluctantly granted Jefferson's lawyer's request for a continuance. But he gave them an extra six weeks instead of the four months they sought. "You'll just have to get it done," Ellis said. The nine-term congressman is accused of taking more than $500,000 in bribes and demanding millions more for himself and his family members from 11 different companies interested in securing business contracts in Africa.

Jefferson attorneys oppose witness in corruption trialRetired judge would sway jury, they say Wednesday, December 12, 2007 By Bill Walsh WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, are trying to block a former Democratic congressman who also served as a judge from testifying at Jefferson's public corruption trial. The defense team filed papers in federal court Tuesday seeking to keep Abner Mikva off the witness stand, saying his service as an appellate court judge would unduly influence the jury. "The government refers to him as " 'Judge Mikva' no less than six times," attorney Robert Trout protested in...

Delay sought in feds' bribery trialJefferson team cites mounds of evidence Wednesday, By Bruce Alpert December 05, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, asked a federal judge Tuesday to delay the congressman's scheduled Jan. 16 public corruption trial, arguing that the volume of material produced by prosecutors -- including hours of secretly recorded conversations -- doesn't provide sufficient time for an adequate defense. "The defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and his right to counsel will be nothing but hollow promises if his lawyers are not accorded a fair opportunity to digest the vast...