Judge: Unseal William Jefferson (D-La.) raid paperwork (The rise and potential fall...)

NOLA ^ | 6/03/06

[Libloather]

Judge: Unseal Jefferson raid paperwork
Saturday, June 03, 2006
From staff reports

A federal appeals court judge has ruled that The Times-Picayune should have access to legal paperwork that led to the Aug. 3 raid by federal authorities on the New Orleans home of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, along with his car and the office of his campaign treasurer, Jack Swetland.

The Justice Department has already released similar paperwork laying out its justification for the recent raid of Jefferson's congressional office as part of the same federal inquiry.

**SNIP**

A similar case is pending in a Maryland court regarding materials filed in support of a raid on the Nigerian vice president's house in Potomac. A federal judge has ruled that the materials should be unsealed, but the order was stayed to give Jefferson time to appeal.

Federal investigators have not opposed any of the requests to make the materials public. But Jefferson has objected in each case, saying that unsealing the materials would violate his privacy and deny him the right to a fair trial if he is indicted.

On Friday, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge W. Eugene Davis agreed with the newspaper's position in regard to the materials supporting the local raids, saying that the public's right to know details of the case outweighs Jefferson's interests.

Davis noted that a "substantially identical" affidavit had already been unsealed in Washington, and that details of the federal probe "have been widely reported in the press." In addition, he noted that Jefferson "is a public servant and his conduct in the performance of his official duties is a matter of great public interest."

[Ole Okie]

The Times-Picayune only wants access to that information so they can put pressure on Jefferson to step aside to get his scandal out of the public eye quickly.

That's my take on this also. Bears repeating.

[El Gato]

Can a Judge over rule the POTUS?????

Of course. But a judge is unlikely to require revelation of the take of the raid on his Congressional office, before the trial. He could however order it unsealed to the prosecution team, but since that team works for POTUS, who's gonna have standing to bring it court, since they aren't about to do so?

[El Gato]

This information would just be the information used to secure the warrants, not the "take" from the raid. The public does have a right to know that the government isn't raiding Congressmen, or anyone else, without sufficient probable cause.

[joebuck]

"Didn't some Congressman actually try that once? Said he was actually trying to set up the guys trying to bribe him?"

I think that was Rep. Jenrette after he got nailed in the Abscam investigation. The jury didn't buy it.

[CFC__VRWC]

The Times-Picayune only wants access to that information so they can put pressure on Jefferson to step aside to get his scandal out of the public eye quickly.

Another possibility that occured to me is that the media wants access to the information so they can look for ways to pick apart the FBI's case and attempt to spin it as the government (i.e. the Bushitler regime) conducting a political witch hunt against a poor innocent black Congressman to try and take attention away from their own "culture of corruption." They probably figure if they play their hand right, they'll be able to pressure the judge into ruling the Jefferson videotape as inadmissible, and therefore fatally wound the government's case against him. It may even work.

One thing is certain - the media sure as hell isn't doing this to get at the truth.

[shalom aleichem]

at least Jim Traficant (D-Ohio)

[StJacques]

"Another possibility that occured to me is that the media wants access to the information so they can look for ways to pick apart the FBI's case and attempt to spin it . . . One thing is certain - the media sure as hell isn't doing this to get at the truth."

Am I the only one wondering why we have not seen a more thorough examination of the scenario that played out in the procurement of the business contract that IT company in Kentucky sought in Nigeria? If Jefferson were a Republican, you can bet we would have already read a summary the phone logs of contacts between Jefferson and the others associated with this case.

I'm just not seeing the kind of investigative reporting that usually accompanies this kind of scandal. When Cunningham's indictment surfaced, we even heard about who cleaned his boat. And please do not think I want to cover for him in any way, because I detest bribery no matter what party is involved.