Liberal Corruption goes on trial, William “Cold Cash” Jefferson’s day in court

Back in 2005, when the democrats were telling any and all camera’s in close proximity about the “culture of corruption” the Republicans were mired in, one of their own was caught with $90,000 in his DC freezer.

I have been waiting with baited breath for this trial as the democrats managed to allow him to keep his seat in Congress after his arrest (after all you are innocent until proven guilty – unless you are a Conservative politician).

This case, as in most high profile cases have already been tried in the press. To solidify their case against Jefferson the FBI “raided his office in DC” and the open hostility from the Democrats began with charges of “political motivated” policing actions. It was the first time in our history that a “sitting Congressman’s” office was raided by law enforcement. “The 83-page affidavit, used to raid Jefferson's Capitol Hill office on Saturday night, portrays him as a money-hungry man who freely solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, discussed payoffs to African officials, had a history of involvement in numerous bribery schemes and used his family to hide his interest in high-tech business ventures he promoted in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.” – Washington Post

Congressional leaders were outraged and challenged the legality of the raid to the press. The raid was deemed constitutional. What was interesting was that the outrage was actually coming from both sides of the isle. It is no wonder considering the sheer number of corrupt Congressional members taking influence payments and perks from Corporate Lobbyists to buy votes on bills and Senate seats.Jefferson’s attorney has indicated that he will attack the prosecutions star witness credibility as the defense has subpoenaed her medical and mental health records and will call into question her ability to remember.

The prosecution is not worried about their witnesses and their memories as they were wearing a wire during the sting.The biggest hurdle of all is the money. The foil wrapped cash that was confiscated from Jefferson two days after the sting is the money (marked) that they gave him for the bribe. The attorney for the defense will try to convince a jury that this is just a case of “influence peddling” vs. bribery but will have a hard time as once again the entire transaction was videotaped and recorded.As a final note, it was Jefferson who diverted National Guard assets that were being used to rescue civilians during Hurricane Katrina to remove personal belongings from his home. He has also been caught up in other controversies when he removed his “sponsorship” of blood money diamond legislation just before he took a trip to Africa on the dime of corrupt politicians in Africa who were exploiting the issue.In spite of all the negative and toxic publicity surrounding this corrupt man, he still managed to keep his Congressional seat until he lost his re-election bid.