Pelosi Calls on Jefferson to Resign From Ways & Means Committee
Pelosi Calls on Jefferson to Resign From Ways & Means Committee
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has called on Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) to resign his seat on the House Ways & Means Committee. Jefferson is currently under criminal investigation for allegedly accepting bribes to help a technology company win several contracts and business deals. Her letter is below:
Dear Congressman Jefferson:
In the interest of upholding the high ethical standard of the House Democratic Caucus, I am writing to request your immediate resignation from the Ways and Means Committee.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader
Pelosi recently took a major step towards breaking the 16-month ethics deadlock in the House when she called publicly for an ethics investigation of Jefferson, a member of her own caucus. Pelosi said the ethics committee “should investigate the Democrats and they should investigate the Republicans.” Pelosi’s statement helped end “more than a year of partisan deadlock that blocked any inquiries” in the ethics committee, which subsequently launched an investigation of Jefferson, Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), and the activities of former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA).
Despite the massive ethical problems within his own caucus, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has not advocated any ethics investigations.
UPDATE: Jefferson rejects Pelosi’s call:
In a statement released by his office, Jefferson said he would not agree to Pelosi’s demand.
“I have received your letter of this date requesting my immediate resignation from the Ways and Means Committee. With respect, I decline to do so,” Jefferson said.
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When will the first rubberstamp republican rise to do the same?
Relax, they always put party over country, so it won’t happen.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:00 pmNow if the would only come out and say they have no problem with Justice raiding Congressional offices they just might get ahead again on corruption.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:00 pmAs the leader, doesn’t Pelosi have the power to just turf him?
May 24th, 2006 at 1:01 pmRemember the republican 11th commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of another republican,” extends to corruption investigations as well.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:02 pmGood move! this is what Dems need to do… “That’s not what we do here… go be a republican.”
May 24th, 2006 at 1:04 pmNancy Pelosi has bigger testicles than Dennis Hasert? Interesting…
May 24th, 2006 at 1:05 pmBravo for Nancy! Time Democrats stood up for ethics and show their cajones!
May 24th, 2006 at 1:10 pmI find it amazing how the Democrats can truly screw up their own party so easily when they had the Republicans in so much trouble. The Jefferson probe has gotten so much more attention than anything the Republican congressmen have done like Frist, Delay, Bob Ney, etc. None of them have gotten splashed on all of the networks news broadcasts the way this one has. Every 5 minutes, they show new developments on what Jefferson has done or new developments. And they only have themselves to blame. They were going to run on corruption of GOP? Guess again, cause it won’t work now…especially with the media making sure the Democratic corruption is showcased for everyone to see.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:11 pmRep. Nancy Pelosi should resign her position as House Minority leader as well > she does not know how to keep House Dems in line as a group! She is always backing down from everything!
May 24th, 2006 at 1:22 pmPelosi is a Pinche Panderisto… this is a smart move but I would hardly say that she has grown a pair or that she stands for anything… if she really stood on principal she would stand up to people like Tim Russert and just say… if Dems win back the house in 06 we will conduct oversight and investigations and if preznit chimpey has committed any high crimes or misdemeanors then we will move to impeach.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:25 pmIt does not take balls to ask a member of the Dem party to resign from a committee > for Nancy to grow a pair she must stand up to Bush and Cheney to tell them to resign ASAP!
May 24th, 2006 at 1:30 pmPelosi is the minority party leader with no power. Hasert is the majority leader with all the power. Pelosi still has bigger balls than Hastert.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:33 pmIf the Dems are serious about ethics accountability, then they should form their own Democrat Ethics Committee and look into this and others that have been suspected of ethics breaches. Use the same system as the full Ethics Committee. Then they could show the public how a real government is run and use that against them in the elections.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:33 pmChernobyl melted down. Four to one hundred percent of the nuclear fuel escaped into the atmosphere. The Pacific Northwest was doused with radioactive rain. 50 to 100 thousand people lost their lives who were directly affected by the disaster. Birds now nest in the damaged reactor building.
The effects of global warming are miniscule. Get over it. The effects of Chernobyl are more worrisome.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:34 pmReally sad… You know I had hoped, childish maybe, that the democrats would not get in trouble for this corruption. But clearly some have. I hope he rots in jail.
New York Bathrooms
May 24th, 2006 at 1:41 pmdlet – what a fantastic idea. I just wonder why they have not thought of this.
They could hold informal hearings on ALL of the usual suspects, not just democrats. This way they are not just highlighting the unethical behavior of one party but are looking into both.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:48 pmI applaud Think Progress for posting this. As progressives, we should not tolerate corruption, no matter what side of the aisle it is on.
Where are the trolls?
Look trolls, we will point out the corruption of the Democrats also.
It would be nice if the Republicans would do the same, but they like corruption, underhandedness, lying, and stealing.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:49 pmRep. William Jefferson was set up by the FBI by a created sting operation, but he got greedy and took the $100,000 cash, apparently used $20,000 of it, and stashed $80,000 in eight bundles wrapped in tin foil in a freezer! He fell for the sting so he will probably be forced to resign from the Congress! Pelosi is only involved because she wants Dems to look ethical, while Repubs appear corrupt, but both parties have members who are thieves or kiss Bush’s ass!
May 24th, 2006 at 2:01 pmOf the ten Congressmen found guilty, indicted, and/or suspected of wrongdoing (Delay(R), Ney (R), Lewis (R), Jefferson (D), Hunter (R), Goode (R), Pombo (R), Doolittle (R), Weldon (R), Cunningham (R)), the Congressional Office of only one was broken into and searched by the FBI. Is the explanation just a question of black and white or is itjust a one-in-ten coincidence? Why hasn’t Pelosi been screaming about the other nine? I suspect the answer is in the above comments and that old saying: “Balls,” cried the Queen, “If I had (to, two) I’d be King;” and the King cried too because he had (to, two).
Click on Clyde!
May 24th, 2006 at 2:02 pmWhat needs to be added to this story is that both Republicans and Democrats are pissed about the FBI search.
CNN
May 24, 2006
Angry lawmakers demand FBI return seized documents
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/24/raid.on.congress.ap/index.html
Although it is pretty funny that Hastert wants to protect the Constitution now.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:08 pmoops, my comment was meant for the previous thread. sorry for the mix up.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:12 pmHastert does not want the FBI to raid Republican House members’ offices! I doubt he really cares about Rep. Jefferson a member of the Black Caucus Democrats! If the FBI thinks it is OK to raid one House member’s office, then raid all the Repubs in scandals too!
May 24th, 2006 at 2:14 pmMr. Jefferson’s response should come as no surprise. Most politicians, regardless of their party affiliation, are interested only in maintaining or building upon the power they have accrued.
May 24th, 2006 at 2:24 pmNancy Pelosi would rather sell Mr. Jefferson out than stand up for him. This is why the Wimpocrats lose, no loyalty. If he’s found guilty crush him, until then stand up for him. the evidence is there that Delay, Ney, Frist, Libby, Rove, Cheyney, Bush are guilty, but you wouldn’t know it by the way Ms. Pelosi was running to drop Mr. jefferson off at the galo’s.
I know the Dem’s want to run as the party of ethics, and it can, if they had some. I feel that there is no hope that the Repuppetcans will lose the house, because the Dem’s strategy of “letting them kill themselves” will not work.
This fake charade of the puppets standing with the wimps over the jefferson raid has nothing to do with bi-partisanship, it’s has everything to do with making sure NO REPUBLICAN is treated that way.
Wake Up Nancy!!!
Get A Clue, or Leave, for the good of the country
May 24th, 2006 at 3:30 pm[...] Think Progress: Pelosi Calls on Jefferson to Resign From Ways & Means Committee [...]
May 24th, 2006 at 3:31 pmAfter 16 months of knowing about this Pelosi is JUST NOW calling for Jefferson to step down? She didn’t grow a pair, she was FORCED to call for his resignation! Too little too late to be seriously be called the Democratic leader of the House. LOL!
May 24th, 2006 at 3:43 pmAt least Pelosi didn’t change the rules to protect him.
May 24th, 2006 at 4:10 pm#26. How do you figure Pelosi knew about it for 16 months?
May 24th, 2006 at 4:49 pmI think all members of Congress should expect an search whenever there’s evidence of wrong doing, just like any American. Because they’re members of Congress doesn’t make them above the law. Democrat or Republican, equality all around. If your’re dirty, then you deserve what you get. Actually, if Democrats had any brains, they would of jumped onto this Republican corruption, at the beginning and started outlining real reforms and changes. Going public, airing ads, splashing it all over the media, to get the Average Joe’s attention, distancing themselves, from Republicans by playing the ‘good cop’ vs ‘bad cop’. Even if they couldn’t get these things passed, they could vocally make a ruckus and point fingers at the Republicans. They just don’t know how to play the same games as Republicans, or how to turn the tables. They just don’t get it.
May 24th, 2006 at 4:52 pmI’m an Independent, but lean towards Democrats, but to be truthful, I’m really embaressed by some of these Democratic ploys, which they think are going to turn the voters away from Republican. Honestly, I’m beginning to think Republicans are the party of Corruption & Greed, and the Democrats are the party of Dumb & Stupid.
Why is it that Nancy is tougher on her fellow Democrats than she is on Bush?
“Twenty Bucks, Same as in Town” blogwhoring post is up, btw.
May 24th, 2006 at 5:52 pmWhat’s most chilling about these developments is that apparently the Justice Department, at the direction of Alberto Gonzalez, who reports to “W” in the Executive Branch, will now stop at nothing in the quest to intimidate Congress. The search of his office by FBI agents was a chilling demolition and bastardization of the separation of powers delineated in our Constitution, and at this point Pelosi is, for whatever reason, obfuscating that more important issue. Sure, the evidence presented so far is pretty damning of Mr. Jefferson, but we should also remember he’s been accused, not convicted. If anything, the Republicans, including, unfortunately, Tom DeLay, have so far presented a better (partial) defense for him than Nancy has. Ever hear of the term, “Politically tone-deaf?”
May 24th, 2006 at 9:01 pmShortly after posting my comment I was informed by telephone that Nancy Pelosi had also, like Dennis and Tom, condemned the invasion of Congressman Jefferson’s office. My apologies to Nancy Pelosi, who is hereby relieved forever of any perception of being politically tone-deaf, at least this time around. Nevertheless, the question remains: why wasn’t this search tactic employed against Randy Cunningham and any other Republican Congressional bribery suspects?
May 24th, 2006 at 11:13 pmHow dare she ask the man to step down. I mean, he’s a black man for crying out loud! Nancy Pelosi must be a racist!
May 27th, 2006 at 2:49 pmThere’s lots of things that people don’t seem to understand.
1) The Impeachment process is highly destructive to both the legislative process as well as the government in general. It’s not a simple 1 day changeover. Democrats, even if they get into power would rather use that power to fix the current system instead of the Republican method of being the first to throw a wrench into it hoping to reap the benefits. Democrats aren’t selfish enough to hit the government when it’s down. You want selfish government leaders? Vote Republican.
2) While it makes sense to citizens that anyone should be open to FBI searches, they forget that the White House is protected from such treatment. Why should our legislators be any less protected? Sure, all members of government must be held accountable, but if the FBI doesn’t have enough evidence without the invasion of your personal files, then really how strong is their case? The same steps we take to investigate the President outside of searches should be applied to Senators and Representatives as well. The Executive branch of government is not above the others in terms of protection.
3) This issue with Jefferson isn’t a one time sting operation. The feds were on his trail due to the confession of another case involving 400,000 of business fraud invovling iGate with the countries of Nigeria and Ghana. He deserves to be brought to justice, just like any other american/politician. Pelosi and the Democrats recognize this breach of law and continue to pursue the solution in accordance to the constitution and law. However, this does not include the huge array of violations that the current Executive administration as well as the Republican congressmen continue to pursue.
4) As far as the media is concerned, they’ve been bashed as being “liberally biased” for so long that I almost don’t blame them for taking advantage of this scenario. I am playing “devil’s advocate” a bit here. Republican corruption definitely needs to be ridiculed in the media just like this. But the Jefferson ordeal is news in a sense and hyping things up is not out of the ordinary nowadays. True, Republican violations seem to get away with only 10 seconds in the spotlight.. but then again, a story about corrupt Republicans isn’t exactly news to anyone is it?
May 28th, 2006 at 3:01 pm[...] The House Democratic causus voted tonight to strip Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) of his seat on the Ways & Means Committee. Jefferson is currently under criminal investigation for allegedly accepting bribes to help a technology company win several contracts and business deals. He had been asked to voluntarily give up the seat but refused. 8:36 pm | Comment (0) [...]
June 15th, 2006 at 8:38 pmfunny stuff, instead of commenting on Jefferson’s alleged misdeeds virtually every comment takes a swipt at republicans. You folks really have been drinking the Kool-Aid!
June 16th, 2006 at 11:25 am