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Old December 1st, 2008 #21
brutus
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David Dinkins


David Dinkins - Sly little devil
He only "failed to comply with the law"



David Norman Dinkins (born July 10, 1927) was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993, being the first and to date only African American to hold that office. He is the most recent Democrat to have been elected Mayor of New York City.

Before politics

Dinkins was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey by his mother and grandmother, his parents having divorced when Dinkins was seven years old. He attended Trenton Central High School, where he graduated in 1945 in the top 10% of his class. After graduation, he attempted to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, but was told that a racial quota had been filled. After serving briefly in the United States Army he joined the Marines. (Does anyone else feel that there might be more to this? - brutus)

Dinkins graduated from Howard University with a degree in Mathematics, graduating magna cum laude, and was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's oldest inter-collegiate fraternity for African American men. He later graduated from Brooklyn Law School.

Political career

Dinkins rose through the Democratic Party organization in Harlem and became part of an influential group of African-American politicians that included Percy Sutton, Basil Paterson, Denny Farrell, and Charles Rangel. As an investor, Dinkins was one of fifty African American investors who helped Percy Sutton found Inner City Broadcasting Corporation in 1971. He served briefly in the New York State Legislature and for many years as New York City Clerk.

He was named Deputy Mayor by Mayor Abraham D. Beame but was ultimately not appointed. He was elected Manhattan Borough President in 1985 on his third run for that office. He was elected the city's mayor on November 7, 1989, having defeated three-term incumbent Mayor Ed Koch and two others to win the Democratic nomination and going on to narrowly defeat Rudy Giuliani, the Republican candidate.

Mayoralty

Dinkins entered office pledging racial healing throughout what he called the "gorgeous mosaic" of New York's diverse communities. Many New Yorkers felt that his low-key personality, which contrasted so sharply with that of his predecessor, along with the symbolic aspect of his being the city's first black mayor, might ease racial tensions. Instead, Dinkins' term was marked by polarizing events including the 1991 Crown Heights Riot and the boycott of a Korean-owned grocery in Flatbush. He was accused of restraining the police during the Crown Heights Riot.

His critics have described him as weak and indecisive, if well-intentioned, at best. He was hurt by the perception that crime was out of control during his administration, although crime actually declined during the last 36 months of his four-year term, ending a 30 year upward spiral and initiating a trend of falling rates that continued well beyond his term.[2][3] Dinkins also initiated a hiring program that expanded the police department nearly 25%.[4]

Economic policy

Dinkins became mayor with a $1.8 billion budget deficit when he entered office. He attempted to balance the budget and raised taxes. High oil prices due to the Gulf War and an overall downturn in the economy did not help the economic health of the city. 300,000 private sector jobs were further lost during Dinkins's administration, eroding the city’s tax base. His handling of the city's finances was criticized as being too beholden to the unions and other pressure groups that were vital to his election.[citation needed] Investment was at an all time low.

His integrity came under fire, as well as his efficacy. In response to his failure to file (or pay) income taxes for 5 years earlier in his career, Salon magazine later reported, Dinkins reasoned, "I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dinkins

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Old December 2nd, 2008 #22
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Default Maxine Waters



Quote:
Corruption allegations
Waters has long been considered one of the last great practitioners of urban "machine politics." In September 2005, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Waters one of the thirteen most corrupt members of Congress. CREW's designation was largely based on the results of an investigation by the Los Angeles Times into non-competitive awards of federal contracts to businesses owned by or connected to members of Waters' family.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php...=Maxine_Waters
 
Old December 2nd, 2008 #23
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Default Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun



Senator Moseley Braun
Quote:
Moseley Braun was the subject of a 1993 Federal Elections Commission investigation over $249,000 in unaccounted campaign funds. The agency found several violations, but took no action against Moseley Braun, citing a lack of resources. Moseley Braun only admitted to bookkeeping errors. The Justice Department turned down two requests for investigations from the IRS[3].
In 1996, Moseley Braun made a private trip to Nigeria, where she met with dictator Sani Abacha. She subsequently defended Abacha's human rights records in Congress.[4]
In 1998, after George Will wrote a column reviewing the allegations of corruption against her, she responded to Will's comments, saying that "I think because he couldn't say nigger, he said corrupt."[5] She also compared Will to a Ku Klux Klansman, saying "I mean this very sincerely from the bottom of my heart: He can take his hood and put it back on again, as far as I'm concerned."[6] Later, Braun apologized for her remarks.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Moseley_Braun
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Old December 2nd, 2008 #24
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Why 'corrupt' black politicians?
Is there such a thing as non-corrupted nigger politicos?
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Old December 2nd, 2008 #25
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Dianne Wilkerson


Dianne Wilkerson
Stuffed her bra with graft



Dianne Wilkerson (born 1955) is a former Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing the 2nd Suffolk District from 1993 to 2008.

On October 28, 2008 she was arrested on public corruption charges by the FBI for allegedly accepting bribes totaling $23,500. She formally resigned on November 19, 2008. Wilkerson is currently free on bail while awaiting trial.
Contents

Education

Dianne Wilkerson graduated from High School of Commerce. She holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Boston College Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from American International College in 1978.

Political career

In 1993, she became the first African American female to serve in the Massachusetts Senate.

She lost the September 2008 Democratic primary to Sonia Chang-Díaz, and on October 31, 2008 announced that she was ending her sticker campaign to seek re-election in the November 4, 2008 election. On November 19, 2008, Wilkerson formally resigned from the Massachusetts state Senate.

When in office, Wilkerson’s Senatorial District included the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, Roxbury, the South End, and some parts of the Fenway, Dorchester, and Mattapan.

Legislative appointments

Commission to Eliminate Racial & Ethnic Healthcare Disparities, Co-Chair; Hynes Convention Center & Boston Common Parking Garage Legislative Commission, Co-Chair; Special Commission on Non-Group and Small Group Health Insurance, Co-Chair; Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board, Member.

Legislative committees

Senate Chair, Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight; Vice-Chair, Joint Committee on Financial Services; Member, Senate Committee on Ways and Means; Member, Joint Committee on Education; Member, Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse; Member, Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets.

Community appointments and memberships

21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference, Convener; Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD), Ex, Officio Member; Asian American Civic Association, Advisory Board Member; Boston State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee, Ex-Officio Member; Caucus of Women Legislators, Member; Chinatown Trust Fund, Trustee; Chinese Progressive Association, Capital Campaign Committee Honorary Member; Coalition for Caring, Co-Convener; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Member; Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Member; Fenway Community Health Center, Member of Board of Visitors; Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, Steering Committee Member; Morning Star Baptist Church, Member; Northeastern University Community Task Force, Member; Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee, Member; Roxbury Trust Fund, Trustee; Trustees' Fellows Athenaeum Trust Fund Advisory Committee, Trustee.

Legal troubles

Federal tax evasion

Wilkerson was sentenced to house arrest in December 1997 after pleading guilty to failing to pay $51,000 in federal income taxes in the early 1990s. She was suspended from practicing law for one year in 1999 because of the conviction and did not seek reinstatement.

Ethics violations - Fleet/BankBoston merger

In 2001, she was fined $1,000 by the State Ethics Commission for failing to properly report that a bank she lobbied for as senator was paying her more than $20,000 a year as a consultant.

Unreported donations

In September 2005, the state Attorney General and head of the state’s campaign finance office filed a lawsuit against Wilkerson, alleging she had not reported nearly $27,000 in donations and refused to explain more than $18,000 in personal reimbursements. She agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and forego about $30,000 in debts owed her to settle the allegations.

Perjury complaint

The state Office of the Bar Counsel filed a complaint on October 3, 2008, accusing Wilkerson of violating the rules of professional conduct by lying under oath at a 2005 court hearing at which her nephew, Jermaine Berry, requested a new trial on a manslaughter conviction.

Wilkerson, who joined the bar in 1981 but has not practiced in a decade, gave "intentionally false, misleading, and deceptive testimony" at the Suffolk Superior Court hearing and in a sworn affidavit, according to the eight-page petition for discipline.

In both the court appearance and the affidavit, the complaint said, Wilkerson falsely claimed that she was present at a Boston police station when two homicide detectives interviewed another nephew, Isaac Wilkerson, about the 1994 stabbing death of Hazel Mack. Berry was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Mack's death, but the senator testified that Isaac Wilkerson made statements that implicated himself during the interview.

Wilkerson also lied when she testified that the detectives repeatedly turned a tape recorder off and on during the interview, the disciplinary complaint said.

Public corruption allegations

On October 28, 2008, Wilkerson was arrested by the FBI on public corruption charges. A federal criminal complaint was filed against her that alleges she was caught on tape stuffing a cash bribe into her bra and accepted those cash payments in exchange for her official duties and responsibilities. She is currently free on a $50,000 non-surety bond after having appeared in U.S. District Court.

Wilkerson has been the subject of an 18 month long undercover investigation conducted by the Boston Police Department and the FBI in which she allegedly accepted eight bribes in cash totaling $23,500. The payments, ranging in amounts from $500 to $10,000 were received from undercover law enforcement officers and a cooperating witness. The bribes were allegedly accepted in return for her help in obtaining a liquor license for a proposed nightclub and transferring public land to a federal agent posing as a private developer. If convicted, she may face up to 20 years in prison plus possible fines of $250,000 for each of the two criminal counts.

On November 17, 2008, Wilkerson filed a motion in federal court requesting a court-appointed lawyer to defend her against the bribery charges. She stated that she could not afford to pay for a lawyer and asked US Magistrate Judge Timothy S. Hillman to appoint Max D. Stern. Stern had been defending Wilkerson in an unrelated matter.

On November 18, 2008, a federal grand jury indicted Wilkerson on eight counts of accepting bribes.

Wilkerson is currently awaiting trial.

Effect on political career

Despite the arrest, Wilkerson initially vowed to continue her write-in candidacy and criticized US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan who she accused of "engaging in a political calculus to derail her campaign". However on October 31, after meeting with members of Boston's Ten Point Coalition and Black Ministerial Alliance, she agreed to suspend her campaign stating "I am withdrawing from the race. We will not be doing any work on the sticker campaign".

In response to the arrest, Senate President Therese Murray stripped Wilkerson of her chairmanship of the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight and stated that she would initiate a Senate Ethics Committee investigation. On October 30, 2008, the Massachusetts Senate removed her from all her committee assignments and unanimously passed a resolution calling on Wilkerson to resign. In response, Wilkerson sent a letter to Senate President Therese Murray stating that she would follow the will of the Senate. Wilkerson was not present during the Senate vote. Wilkerson later released a statement indicating that she would not resign, calling the request "unreasonable" and also stating: "Surely the members of the state Senate could not have believed that such a monumental decision would be made within a few hours. A decision to leave this district without representation, even for 60 days, is one that cannot and should not be made in a matter of hours. Rest assured I am committed to do what is in the best interest of the residents of this district."

In the days following her arrest, calls for Wilkerson's resignation also came from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and in editorials from Boston's two major newspapers, the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe.

On November 5, 2008, in a statement issued by her Senate office, Wilkerson announced that she would resign "...as soon as humanly and responsibly possible, and on November 19, 2008 Wilkerson formally resigned from the Massachusetts state Senate, the day before the Senate was to vote on expelling her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Wilkerson
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Old December 2nd, 2008 #26
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Turner arrested, charged with accepting a bribe


I'm black and above the laws designed to trap my people!

A frame from a video recording allegedly shows Turner accepting $1,000 cash. (FBI SURVEILLANCE PHOTO)


By Jonathan Saltzman and Shelley Murphy
Globe Staff / November 22, 2008



The grainy surveillance pictures looked similar, but the subject within them had changed. The FBI swooped into Boston City Hall yesterday morning and charged Councilor Chuck Turner with accepting a bribe, marking the second high-profile arrest of a black politician in a month and triggering fresh questions over where the federal investigation goes from here.

Turner's arrest on charges of pocketing a $1,000 payment from a nightclub operator and lying to federal agents about it came 24 days after the FBI charged state Senator Dianne Wilkerson with accepting payments from the same businessman, who was seeking help in obtaining a liquor license.

Law enforcement officials indicated that the investigation will continue and could result in more arrests, fueling a mix of surprise and speculation through the halls of city and state government.

"The question is, is there another shoe to drop?" said state Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, who represents Dorchester.

Wilkerson was arrested Oct. 28 and resigned her Senate seat Wednesday under intense pressure from her colleagues. Waves of federal grand jury subpoenas have landed at City Hall and the State House, as well as the offices of developers and various state officials.

Turner is a five-term city councilor who gained prominence in the 1960s as a local community organizer. He professed his innocence after a hearing in US District Court in Worcester yesterday, where 30 supporters chanted their support for him.

"I am absolutely positive that a jury of my peers will come to the conclusion that I am innocent," said the 68-year-old Turner, amid chants of "Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!" outside the courthouse. A federal magistrate released him on $50,000 bond.

The investigation thus far has featured allegations of attempted extortion, political favors, and backroom deals. Agencies that have received subpoenas include the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, the Boston Licensing Board, and the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Although Mayor Thomas M. Menino's office has received a subpoena, US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said specifically yesterday that Menino is not a subject of the investigation. He also said that, beyond Wilkerson, it does not appear any other members of the Legislature are implicated.

But Sullivan pointedly refused to say the same about other city and state officials.

"We have charged two individuals, a city councilor and now a former state senator," he said, referring to Wilkerson's resignation from the Senate Wednesday. "Beyond that, we are not going to comment."

Asked about concerns that the investigation was focused on two influential leaders in the city's African-American community, Sullivan replied: "Is that a serious question? The affidavit lays out the conduct. It's the conduct of two individuals. We are blind to color when it comes to the evidence."

Sullivan declined to comment when asked whether other members of the City Council will be implicated or if people connected to the Boston Licensing Board, the agency that awards liquor licenses in Boston, or the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission are being investigated. Continued...

The Boston Globe
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Old December 7th, 2008 #27
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William J. Jefferson


Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Louisiana's 2nd district


William Jennings "Bill" Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. A Democrat, Jefferson has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1991, but was apparently defeated in an historic upset by Republican Joseph Cao on Saturday, December 6, 2008. He represents Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He is Louisiana's first black Congressman since the end of Reconstruction. In May 2006, the FBI raided his Congressional offices, but he was re-elected later that year. On June 4, 2007, a federal grand jury indicted Jefferson on 16 charges related to corruption. On October 4, 2008, Jefferson finished first in the Democratic primary and won in a run-off against Helena Moreno on November 4, 2008. As the results of the December 6. vote came in, CNN reported that Jefferson's Republican opponent, Anh Cao, had defeated Jefferson. The AP has also followed suit. This is with all precincts reporting, but all absentee votes likely still have left to be counted, so there is a slim possibility that Jefferson will still win. Despite Jefferson's growing legal jeopardy, New Orleans' largely black racial makeup means that this will most likely be considered by pundits the biggest upset of the political season.


His legal jeopardy has left many people, including some Democrats, to call him "Dollar Bill" Jefferson.


Early life and career

Jefferson was born in Lake Providence, a small town in East Carroll Parish in far northeastern Louisiana, where he and his eight brothers and sisters worked alongside their father, who was a sharecropper and a heavy-equipment operator for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Though neither of his parents had graduated from high school, Jefferson received a bachelor's degree from Southern University, where in 1969 he led a protest against substandard campus facilities and negotiated with then-Governor John McKeithen. He later earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1972 and an LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996. After graduation, he became a law clerk for Judge Alvin B. Rubin of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1972 to 1973, and a lawyer with a private practice. From 1973 to 1975, he was a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., of Louisiana. He moved to New Orleans in 1976 and was elected as a member of the Louisiana Senate in 1980, where he served until 1991. He twice unsuccessfully ran for New Orleans mayor, first challenging Ernest N. Morial in the election of 1982, and then being defeated by Sidney Barthelemy in the mayoral runoff of 1986. In 1990 William Jefferson was elected to the House, becoming the first black member of Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction. In the House, Jefferson joined the Congressional Black Caucus.

Local influence

Jefferson and his family control one of the most sophisticated and effective get-out-the-vote organizations in South Louisiana: the Progressive Democrats. In 2002, their support helped elect Jefferson's protégée Renée Gill Pratt as a Councilmember. Jefferson's daughter Jalila failed to succeed Pratt as a Representative to the Louisiana State House. It also contributed to the election of Jefferson's sister Betty as a municipal assessor, in 1998, 2002 and 2006. New Orleans politics has been substantially changed after Hurricane Katrina, with many former voters no longer in the city.

A few days after Hurricane Katrina hit, Jefferson utilized a National Guard detachment to recover personal effects and belongings from his home. After the truck in which he and the detachment traveled became stuck, the Guard helicopter aided Jefferson's party while rescue operations where still ongoing.

Corruption investigation

The investigation began in mid-2005, after an investor alleged $400,000 in bribes were paid through a company maintained in the name of his spouse and children. The money came from a tech company named iGate, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, and in return, it is alleged, Jefferson would help iGate's business. Jefferson was to persuade the U.S. Army to test iGate's broadband two-way technology and other iGate products; use his efforts to influence high-ranking officials in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon; and meet with personnel of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, in order to facilitate potential financing for iGate business deals in those countries.

On 30 July 2005, Jefferson was videotaped by the FBI receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills in a leather briefcase at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington, Virginia.[8] Jefferson told an investor, Lori Mody, who was wearing a wire, that he would need to give Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar $500,000 "as a motivating factor" to make sure they obtained contracts for iGate and Mody's company in Nigeria.

A few days later, on 3 August 2005, FBI agents raided Jefferson's home in Northeast Washington and, as noted in an 83-page affidavit filed to support a subsequent raid on his Congressional office, "found $90,000 of the cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers." Serial numbers found on the currency in the freezer matched serial numbers of funds given by the FBI to their informant.



Late on the night of 20 May 2006, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building. This is "believed to be the first-ever FBI raid on a Congressional office," raising concerns that it could "set a dangerous precedent that could be used by future administrations to intimidate or harass a supposedly coequal branch of the government." See below.

The affidavit used to support these raids alleged:

* The FBI videotaped Jefferson receiving a stock certificate from Mody for a company set up in Nigeria to promote iGate's technology. Jefferson predicted the deal would generate $200 million annually after five years.
* Jefferson told Mody that he wanted a similar financial stake in the business in Ghana.
* Jefferson sought $10 million in financing from Mody to take over iGate and install "confidants" on the new board. In two payments, Mody wired $89,225 to the ANJ Group LLC, a company controlled by Jefferson's family.
* Jefferson lent $4,800 of the money Mody gave him to an unnamed congressional aide. Another $4,900 was given back to the FBI by one of Jefferson's attorneys.
* The FBI claims it has uncovered "at least seven other schemes in which Jefferson sought things of value in return for his official acts."

Former aides plead guilty

In January 2006, Brett M. Pfeffer, a former aide to Jefferson, implicated him in a corruption scheme involving an Internet company being set up in Nigeria. Pfeffer was president of an investment company in McLean, Virginia. In return for political support for the deal, Jefferson had legal work directed toward his family's operations. It was also said that a daughter of his was put on retainer of the Virginia investment company to the tune of $5,000 a month. Jefferson also is said to have arranged for his family a 5% to 7% ownership stake in the Nigerian Internet company. Pfeffer pled guilty to charges of aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy on 11 January 2006 in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. On May 26, he was sentenced to eight years, but was "cooperating in an ongoing probe and may be eligible for a sentence reduction afterward", according to a prosecutor.

On 3 May 2006 Vernon Jackson, 53, CEO of Louisville, Kentucky based iGate Inc., admitted to bribery of a public official and conspiracy to bribe a public official during a plea hearing in U.S. District Court. According to the Associated Press, "court documents make clear that Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) is the accused congressman, without naming him." Jackson's plea bargain requires his cooperation in the ongoing investigation against the congressman he admits bribing. The total amount of the bribes is between $400,000 and $1 million, according to court documents of the Jackson proceeding. On September 8, Jackson was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in jail.

Congressional office raid

The raid of Jefferson's office set off a series of political events. Jefferson immediately challenged the action in federal court. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued "a rare joint statement demanding that the FBI return the documents and saying that Jefferson then should cooperate more fully with the investigation." "Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government that are meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation." Tensions escalated to the point where, according to AP, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, his deputy, Paul McNulty, and possibly FBI Director Robert Mueller "were said to be ready to quit if the Justice Department was asked to return the Jefferson documents...[while the] House was threatening to go after the Justice Department's budget."

On May 25, President Bush stepped in, taking the extraordinary step of "directing the Department of Justice to seal all the materials recovered from Congressman Jefferson's office for the next 45 days and not to allow access to anyone involved in the investigation." Representative James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, began to hold hearings, called "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?", on the "profoundly disturbing" questions that he said the Justice Department's actions raised.

The FBI, in answering Jefferson's complaint of the raid, attached an FBI agent's affidavit claiming that the raid was necessary because while the FBI was searching his home in August, Jefferson tried to "surreptitiously remove" documents.

An ABC News poll released 1 June 2006 found 86% of Americans supported the FBI's right to search congressional offices when they obtain a warrant.

On July 10, 2006, Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled the FBI raid on Jefferson's office was legal,[24] rejecting his and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives's claim that the search violated the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, separation of powers principle and Fourth Amendment. Chief Judge Hogan, in a 28-page ruling, acknowledged that the "facts and questions of law presented here are indeed unprecedented," but wrote that it is "well-established" that a Congressman is "generally bound to the operation of the criminal laws as are ordinary persons," and the Speech or Debate Clause does not "make Members of Congress super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility.'" Hogan, in his conclusion, wrote:

"The existing broad protections of the Speech or Debate Clause – absolute immunity from prosecution or suit for legislative acts and freedom from being 'questioned' about those acts (including privilege from the testimonial act of producing documents in response to a subpoena) – satisfy the fundamental purpose of the Clause to protect the independence of the legislature. The Court declines to extend those protections further, holding that the Speech or Debate Clause does not shield Members of Congress from the execution of valid search warrants. Congressman Jefferson's interpretation of the Speech or Debate privilege would have the effect of converting every congressional office into a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime. Such a result is not supported by the Constitution or judicial precedent and will not be adopted here. See Williamson v. United States, 28 S. Ct. at 167 ('[T]he laws of this country allow no place or employment as a sanctuary for crime.') (quotation omitted).

However, later that same month, a three-judge appellate panel unanimously overruled Hogan's decision and affirmed that the Department of Justice could not review Rep. Jefferson's files until he had seen what files were taken and which of those pertained to his work as a legislator. The appellate court directed that Hogan, the judge who originally authorized the controversial search and seizure, should determine if Jefferson's claims of legislative privilege extend to specific seized files that the lawmaker may cite. On March 31, 2008, the United States Supreme Court denied further review.

Stripped of committee membership

On May 24, 2006, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi publicly requested Jefferson's immediate resignation from the House Ways and Means Committee, but he declined to step down. Although Mel Watt, then chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, declared the strong support of the caucus for Jefferson it has since been reported that two prominent members of the caucus, John Lewis (D-GA) and Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) have played a major role in the campaign to force Jefferson to step down.

On June 15, 2006, House Democrats voted to strip Jefferson of his committee assignment while the federal bribery investigation continued. The vote passed 99-58. Some have reported that the vote was passed as a result of Democrats who were determined to make an election-year point about ethics. The full House, which is the only group with the power to actually remove Jefferson, then stripped him of his seat on the committee on June 16 in a voice vote without debate. Jefferson had offered to step aside temporarily if the Democratic caucus established a rule concerning cases like his and if his seat went to Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA). This offer was rejected by House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Jefferson
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Old December 11th, 2008 #28
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[classics from Marion Barry]

“The contagious people of Washington have stood firm against diversity during this long period of increment weather.”

“I promise you a police car on every sidewalk.”

“If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate.”

“First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I’m a night owl.”

“I am clearly more popular than Reagan. I am in my third term. Where’s Reagan? Gone after two! Defeated by George Bush and Michael Dukakis no less.”

“The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist.”

“I am making this trip to Africa because Washington is an international city, just like Tokyo, Nigeria, or Israel. As mayor, I am an international symbol. Can you deny that to Africa?”

“People have criticized me because my security detail is larger than the president’s. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are.”

“The brave men who died in Vietnam, more than 100% of which were black, were the ultimate sacrifice.”

“I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600’s. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican.”

“What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?”

“People blame me because these water mains break, but I ask you, if the water mains didn’t break, would it be my responsibility to fix them then? WOULD IT!?!”

“I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man.”

http://noolmusic.com/funny_jokes/new...rion_barry.php
 
Old December 11th, 2008 #29
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Default Charles Rangel-even the NY Times says he's a crook



The successor to crooked Congressman Adam Clayton Powell. NY Times editorial accuses Speaker Pelosi of inaction in the face of Rangel's obvious malfeasance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/opinion/11thu3.html
 
Old December 12th, 2008 #30
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Default Jessie Jackson Jr, congressman from Illinois, son of race pimp.

Jackson says he "wants my name back" after being exposed as one of the persons bidding for Obama's senate seat. He said he only showed he could win and showed Governor Blagojevich his "credentials".

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12...-my-name-back/

 
Old December 12th, 2008 #31
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Racism blamed for corrupt politicians in Dallas

DALLAS - A sweeping City Hall corruption probe that has produced federal charges against a dozen black civic and political leaders is renewing suspicions of racism in a city with a long history of combative minority relations.

“It makes Dallas looks bad,” said Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, who is black, “because people just have the general sense of the city being unfair to people of color.”



Sixteen people — 12 of them black — were named in corruption indictments unsealed this week. Most of them were charged in what the FBI said was a kickback and bribery scheme involving the awarding of contracts to white developers to build affordable housing, mostly in black neighborhoods.

The two-year investigation — and the spectacle of some of Dallas’ most influential black leaders arriving at the federal courthouse to face charges — dealt a blow to a minority community still struggling to find its political footing.

Some blacks said they suspect the case is an attempt to dismantle Dallas’ black political leadership.

http://www.newsnet14.com/2007/10/rac...ans-in-dallas/
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Old December 24th, 2008 #32
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Bad enough when it was WHITE politicians, ALWAYS totally fucking WORSE when it's non-Whites, but especially niggers, because they bleed every economy of every city they're mayor of almost completely dry, and the city collapses into 3rd 'world' hellhole-level. The money absolutely flies out the window,to da mayuh's racist black devil 'friends' and 'ass-sociates'.Why? Because in their fevered ,childish,totally NIGGnorant, delusional mindsets, they believe that's how Whitey's always done it.
 
Old February 9th, 2009 #33
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Default Kwame' be back, ma niggas!@

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(WXYZ) It’s a question being asked all over town: who paid for that chartered jet to fly former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to Texas shortly after he got out of jail yesterday?

CHIEF INVESTIGATOR STEVE WILSON HAS THE EXCLUSIVE REPORT IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT

The Action News investigators know, and our Steve Wilson is breaking the story. It was intended to be a well-kept secret, but this afternoon Action News confirmed who it was that ordered up the jet, hoping no one would ever be the wiser.

As we first told you yesterday just before ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick swooped into Dallas in a Learjet, there was such a cloak of secrecy around the trip that when the flight was chartered, the company that owns the plane was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.

But now, Action News has confirmed it: the former mayor’s mother, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick says she paid for the charter flight. Told we were prepared to reveal it here on Action News, she issued this statement that says simply: “I was proud to pay for my son’s flight to begin a new life in Texas.”

As we reported last night, last December the former mayor’s wife and children moved into this home in affluent Southlake, Texas, paying $3,000 a month.

But Kilpatrick’s right to travel here as a convicted felon now on probation was granted not so he could start a new life but for a job interview. He will have to petition the Michigan court for permission to re-locate to Texas, though shortly after his arrival there last night, he acted as though it was already a done deal.

Kwame Kilpatrick/Former Detroit Mayor: We’re planning on living here. We’re excited about this wonderful new opportunity in our lives. We’re just ready to start it.

That jet, by the way? To be a high flyer in this does not come cheap. We’re told Kilpatrick’s ritzy ride to Texas cost $30,000 roundtrip. The Congresswoman’s office has refused to respond to our follow-up questions as to the exact price, what money she used to pay that bill, or why she insisted on secrecy about it. It was to her house, you’ll recall, that the former mayor went immediately upon being released from his 99-day jail sentence early yesterday.

According to her latest campaign finance filing, the “Kilpatrick for Congress Committee” held more than a quarter-million dollars in cash, money that would of course be illegal for her to spend on any personal expense.

A lot of lawmakers in Washington have amassed personal fortunes but Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick is not one with money to burn. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, her net worth could be as little as $100,000. Their figures rank her 298 on the list of the richest house members.
http://www.wxyz.com/content/news/inv...PDSBUqmJQ.cspx
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Old February 26th, 2009 #34
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BURRIS' SON GOT STATE JOB FROM BLAGO
SCANDAL MUSHROOMS | He serves as housing authority counsel despite facing foreclosure on his own home

February 26, 2009

BY CHRIS FUSCO, TIM NOVAK AND DAVE MCKINNEY Staff Reporters
The son of embattled Sen. Roland Burris is a federal tax deadbeat who landed a $75,000-a-year state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Blagojevich's administration hired Roland W. Burris II as a senior counsel for the state's housing authority Sept. 10 -- about six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service slapped a $34,163 tax lien on Burris II and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure suit on his South Side house.

Sen. Roland Burris' son, Roland II (inset) is an income-tax deadbeat who got a state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Burris II's hiring, however, raises more questions about Sen. Burris' interactions with Blagojevich and his inner circle at a time when the governor was soliciting Sen. Burris for campaign contributions and Burris was angling to have Blagojevich appoint him to the Senate seat once held by President Obama.

Blagojevich appointed Burris to that seat in late December after Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell the vacancy to the highest bidder.

Sen. Burris, 71, is fending off calls for his resignation and is the subject of a Senate ethics probe and a perjury investigation by the top prosecutor in Downstate Sangamon County. Those probes stem from conflicting testimony Sen. Burris provided to the House panel that drafted impeachment charges against Blagojevich, who was removed from office Jan. 29.

Separately, federal authorities have been investigating hiring decisions by Blagojevich's administration. Authorities, however, have not expressed any interest in Burris II, Housing Development Authority spokeswoman Rebecca Boykin said.

"Roland Burris II was hired by the Illinois Housing Development Authority's Legal Department based on his qualifications in response to a published job posting," Boykin stated. "As an employer, it is not IHDA's practice to request financial information from applicants."

Sen. Burris' office, Burris II and Sen. Burris' lawyer, Timothy Wright III, did not return telephone calls and e-mails seeking comment. Blagojevich's publicist also did not respond to questions about Burris II's hiring.

Burris II, 42, once worked at the same law firm as his father: Burris, Wright, Slaughter & Tom. That firm merged with another in the fall.

Burris II had resolved two federal tax liens in 2005 before being hit with the $34,163 lien in July. That lien against his property seeks unpaid taxes for 2004, 2005 and 2007.

A month after the IRS filed the lien, Burris II's lender filed its foreclosure suit. Since Burris II and his wife got the $372,000 mortgage on July 18, 2006, they've paid less than $3,000 on it, the suit alleges. The balance due is $406,685, including interest and penalties.

The fact that Burris II faces foreclosure but is working at a housing-related state agency "reeks of hypocrisy," said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), who was the first to call on Sen. Burris to testify before the impeachment panel.

"It's probably not the area where he [Burris II] should be counseling Illinois citizens on how to stave off foreclosure," Durkin said. "I guess it just begs the question: Why was he placed there, and to what extent did Sen. Burris have conversations regarding the placement?"

Burris II built his home in the booming Bronzeville neighborhood on land he bought from the City of Chicago in 2000. City records show he paid $1 for the lot as part of an effort to clean up his once-blighted block.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/b...rris26.article
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Old March 3rd, 2009 #35
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Default Courtesy of Newnationnews.

The son of Sen. Roland Burris landed a job with the Illinois Housing Development Authority five months ago under the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich,

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that Roland Burris II, 42, was hired on Sept. 10.

He serves as senior counsel for the state's housing authority, a job that pays $75,000-a-year.

Burris' hiring came six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service issued him with a $34,163 tax lien and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure lawsuit on his South Side Chicago home, the paper reported Thursday.

The Housing Authority Administration officiates over mortgage programs for low-income home buyers and anti-foreclosure initiatives.

Authority spokeswoman Rebecca Boykin told the Sun-Times that Burris' son was given the $75,000 job based on his qualifications and in response to a published job posting.

"Roland Burris II was hired by the Illinois Housing Development Authority's Legal Department based on his qualifications in response to a published job posting," Boykin told the newspaper. "As an employer, it is not IHDA's practice to request financial information from applicants."

The senator is fending off calls for his resignation because of conflicting testimony on fundraising for Blagojevich that he provided to the House panel that drafted impeachment charges against the former governor. Burris was appointed by Blagojevich in late December to fill President Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Chicago labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan -- a Democratic candidate for chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's former congressional seat -- filed a federal lawsuit Thursday forcing the state to hold a special election for the Senate seat occupied by Burris.

Geoghegan is arguing that Burris' appointment was unconstitutional. The U.S. Constitution's 17th Amendment requires that voters -- not governors -- select U.S. senators. Geoghegan is claiming voters must therefore decide which candidate should fill President Obama's former Senate seat.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has also cited the Constitution in expressing her preference for a special election.

"It is my opinion that the legislature may pass a law allowing the people of Illinois to elect a U.S. senator to fill the seat vacated by President Barack Obama. Such a law would be consistent with the U.S. Constitution," Madigan wrote in an 11-page opinion on Wednesday.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...rt-burris-son/
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Old March 3rd, 2009 #36
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Garland City, AR Mayor Arrested After Shopping Spree On Stolen City Checks

GARLAND CITY, AR (KSLA) -"Whatever happens. It happens." They're words that sum up exactly what is happening right now to Garland City, Arkansas Mayor Yvonne Dockery.

"We have a warrant issued out for theft of over 500 hundred dollars," says Kristi Mitchell with the Texarkana, AR Police.

KSLA News 12 has learned that last Thursday a Miller County, Arkansas judge issued a warrant for Dockery's arrest after allegedly using a city check to purchase more than 600 dollars in merchandise from an area Walmart, apparently without the knowledge of the City of Garland.

"The City of Garland, AR received the information that the check was cashed at which time they contacted the police department and the investigation began and a warrant was issued because the check is stolen," says Mitchell.

Sometime Wednesday afternoon, Louisiana State Police arrested Dockery, and because of the warrant, she was brought to the Caddo Correctional Center, where she remains.

Back in 2007 KSLA News 12 first reported about money problems that have followed the mayor. That's when the Garland City council accused Dockery of stealing money from the city, and giving herself money advances.

But for now, Dockery remains in office Arkansas, but behind bars in Caddo Parish.
http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp...1&nav=menu50_2

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Old March 3rd, 2009 #37
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Sanitation Director Veronica White, right, responds to questions by members of the City Council at a recent meeting. White recently turned over thousands of council e-mails to an activist lawyer without the knowledge of the city attorney.

Quote:
City of New Orleans Sanitation Director Veronica White provided an activist lawyer with several compact discs containing tens of thousands of emails written by or sent to members of the City Council, documents indicate.
The documents show that lawyer Tracie Washington requested the emails of the council's four white members plus one other city official, also white, on Dec. 3, 2008. Instead of sending her request to the city attorney's office, which normally handles public-records requests, she sent it to city information officials.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2..._coverage.html
Activist lawyer.


by Jarvis DeBerry, Columnist, The Times-Picayune Friday February 20, 2009, 1:00 AM


Quote:
You've just got to wonder if there weren't e-mail exchanges between Ray Nagin and Kwame Kilpatrick.
You know, mayor to mayor; honcho to honcho; kahuna to kahuna; beleaguered exec of beleaguered city to beleaguered exec of beleaguered city.
You've got to wonder if Kilpatrick, whose corruption in office became evident when the Detroit Free Press published text messages he'd sent on his government phone, didn't advise Nagin to protect himself from such media inquiry and delete everything.
You've got to wonder -- that is, let your imagination run wild -- because a whole year of e-mails sent by and to New Orleans' most technologically sophisticated mayor have been deleted.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...ls_d.html#more
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Old March 6th, 2009 #38
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http://www.macon.com/198/story/640079.html
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ATLANTA — Nearly 10 percent of Georgia state legislators are late filing or paying their state taxes, and state Sen. Robert Brown is apparently among them.
Brown, D-Macon, said Wednesday he’s not sure whether he actually owes the state or federal government any money because he hasn’t filed tax returns. He said he’s gotten extensions, but he declined to give more information or say for what years he received filing extensions.
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Old March 6th, 2009 #39
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Default Prosecutor seeking FBI tapes of Burris

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By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer Mike Robinson, Associated Press Writer 25 mins ago

CHICAGO – A county prosecutor exploring the possibility of perjury charges against U.S. Sen. Roland Burris has asked federal officials for FBI tapes of phone conversations between Burris and ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother, an individual with knowledge of the case said Friday.

Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt wants to compare the taped conversations with what Burris said under oath before the House committee that voted to impeach Blagojevich, said the individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter could come before a grand jury.

Schmidt's request, first reported in Friday editions of the Chicago Sun-Times, comes after Burris repeatedly changed his story about his contact with Blagojevich's friends and aides in advance of being appointed.

It was not clear whether federal officials would give tapes to Schmidt, but the U.S. Attorney's office did release four FBI wiretaps of Blagojevich conversations — edited to delete information the government considered too sensitive — to state lawmakers who ultimately removed Blagojevich from office in January.

Burris provided the impeachment panel with an affidavit in January saying he had no contact with anyone close to the then-governor about the seat until a Blagojevich attorney approached him about it. Under questioning by the panel, Burris also said he had spoken with some "friends" and lobbyist Lon Monk, a former Blagojevich aide.

But in an affidavit dated Feb. 4, Burris said that even before the election, the governor's brother, Robert Blagojevich, asked him to raise funds. And in one of two phone calls between them after the election, Burris said he told the brother he couldn't raise funds for the governor because he was interested in the seat.

At a Feb. 16 appearance in Peoria, Burris told reporters he had tried to raise money for Blagojevich but had been unable to do so.

Republicans immediately started pressing Schmidt to determine whether a perjury investigation was warranted. Perjury is an intentional misstatement of a material fact while under oath. Burris has said the questions came so fast he didn't have an adequate chance to answer as fully as he might have before the committee.

Robert Blagojevich is the chairman of the former governor's campaign fund — Friends of Rod Blagojevich. His attorney, Michael Ettinger, has said his client called Burris about raising money for the campaign because he had been a fundraiser for Blagojevich in previous years.

An attorney for Burris on Friday said a summary of events and legal arguments explaining how Burris got appointed has been submitted to a prosecutor investigating perjury charges. Burris last week had promised a "concise document" that would prove he didn't mislead the House committee.

Burris attorney Timothy Wright III said the summary was given to John Schmidt, the Sangamon County State's attorney, who declined to comment.

Burris' Washington office also declined to comment.

Rod Blagojevich, then governor, was arrested by FBI agents Dec. 9 after being charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to sell the Senate seat and using his powers to squeeze money out of state contractors and others. He has repeatedly denied violating any laws.

Federal officials based their charges partially on wiretaps of Blagojevich's home phone and the phone at the Friends of Blagojevich offices.

U.S. District Chief Judge James F. Holderman has given prosecutors until April 7 to obtain an indictment to replace the complaint, although that could be extended.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090307/...is_blagojevich
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Old May 23rd, 2009 #40
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Default Renee Gill Pratt, ex-N.O. councilwoman and state representative, indicted


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Quote:
Renee Gill Pratt, a former state representative and New Orleans city councilwoman, was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on federal racketeering charges that accuse her and members of the Jefferson political family of operating a "criminal enterprise" that raided nonprofit organizations created to help disadvantaged people.
The indictment of Gill Pratt comes nearly one year after a grand jury indicted her longtime boyfriend, Mose Jefferson; his sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson; and Angela Coleman, Betty Jefferson's daughter; on various charges of skimming money from nonprofit organizations that were supposed to help impoverished communities. A trial in that case was scheduled for early August but will be pushed back.
The indictment of Gill Pratt also includes the two Jeffersons, siblings of U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson, and Coleman. The four operated "a criminal enterprise for the financial and political benefit of the defendants" from 1991 through 2006, according to a news release issued by U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office.
The indictment issued Friday incorporates Gill Pratt into the alleged conspiracy to launder money from nonprofit groups, while offering up some new details of how the money was spent. Gill Pratt is also accused of improperly taking possession of vehicles donated to the city after Hurricane Katrina, channeling city rent money to one of Mose Jefferson's buildings and using state and city dollars to pay Carnival krewe dues.
Betty Jefferson, as one of the city's elected assessors, is also accused of using her position to obtain taxpayer dollars to pay her personal bills, including her mortgage payment.
Many of the descriptions of the intertwined political and financial relationships among Gill Pratt and members of the Jefferson family were first detailed in articles that ran in The Times-Picayune in 2006.
The grand jury indicted all four defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which is considered to be an effective prosecutorial weapon because of its enhanced penalties and forfeiture provisions.
"To put it bluntly, the government has more bricks to hit the defendant with, " said Shaun Clarke, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.
A RICO case also allows federal prosecutors to expand beyond the five-year statute of limitations for most federal crimes, bringing up alleged criminal acts that occurred farther in the past, said Harry Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney.
The money trail
Gill Pratt funneled money to nonprofit groups controlled by the Jefferson family both as a state legislator for more than a decade and as a member of the New Orleans City Council. The specific appropriations mentioned in the indictment date to 1999, when Gill Pratt was a member of the state House of Representatives.
As a state legislator, Gill Pratt obtained financing for nonprofit organizations controlled by Betty Jefferson and Coleman from the now-defunct Governor's Office of Urban Affairs, a pot of money used by African-American lawmakers to support charities in their districts. She also tapped a fund run out of the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District that allowed New Orleans lawmakers to earmark financing for certain projects, according to the indictment. The nonprofit groups also obtained federal money, according to the indictment.
One of the nonprofit groups that benefited from Gill Pratt's largesse was Care Unlimited, a group that she went to work for after she was defeated in her 2006 re-election bid for the District B seat on the City Council. That group was supposed to offer a variety of programs for people in the Uptown district she served as a state representative, programs such as those helping impoverished teenage boys or giving academic assistance to pregnant teenage girls trying to finish their schooling.
Instead, the indictment accuses Betty Jefferson, Coleman and Brenda Jefferson Foster, another sibling of the Jeffersons, of writing checks directly to various companies controlled by the Jeffersons, unnamed family members and themselves. In several cases, some of the money was used to pay for remodeling projects at property owned by the defendants.
They also are accused of writing checks to "straw payees, " who are described as employees but who did not exist. The money would eventually end up in the bank accounts of Betty Jefferson, Mose Jefferson and Coleman, the indictment stated.
Brenda Jefferson Foster pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony last year and has agreed to testify against her siblings.



The indictment accuses the leaders of Care Unlimited of misusing state money even after Gill Pratt left the Louisiana Legislature to join the City Council.
Additionally, as a city councilwoman, Gill Pratt is accused of improperly appropriating the use of four vehicles donated to the city of New Orleans by DaimlerChrysler. The 2005 Dodge Durango and three 2006 Dodge Ram pickup trucks were used by Gill Pratt, Mose Jefferson and others as their personal vehicles, according to the indictment.
When she was defeated in her May 2006 re-election bid, Gill Pratt transferred title of the vehicles to Care Unlimited and another nonprofit agency controlled by the Jeffersons. She continued to use the Dodge Durango as her personal vehicle until a public outcry about the deal forced her to return the trucks to the city in July 2006.
Gill Pratt is also accused of misusing her position on the City Council to obtain city money to pay for an office in a building owned by Mose Jefferson. The city paid rent for this "satellite office" in Central City to a Jefferson company called Southwind Consultants. On March 31, 2003, the company paid back $5,000 of that money to Gill Pratt, according to the indictment.
In March 2005, Southwind, using rent money paid by the city and money from Care Unlimited, paid $1,250 that Gill Pratt owed the Krewe of Muses for membership dues and other charges, presumably Carnival throws, according to the indictment.
The racketeering conspiracy outlined by the U.S. attorney's office accuses Gill Pratt of participating in another case pending against Mose Jefferson.
In that case, Mose Jefferson is accused of bribing former Orleans Parish School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms in exchange for her support for software he was trying to get both the public schools and various private schools to buy. The new racketeering count against Gill Pratt and Mose Jefferson notes that while she was a state representative, she obtained a $300,000 line-item appropriation to enable two private schools to buy the software.
This appropriation meant Jefferson got a $30,000 commission, of which Gill Pratt was given $3,500, according to the indictment.
Along with the racketeering charge, Betty Jefferson, Mose Jefferson and Coleman all face myriad other charges, including mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Mose Jefferson also was charged with making false statements to the FBI when he was questioned by agents in July 2006 about the finances of the nonprofit organization Orleans Metropolitan Housing and Community Development Inc.
Additionally, Betty Jefferson is charged with tax evasion, and both she and Coleman are accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The additional charges dramatically increase the potential sentences faced by the Jeffersons and Coleman if they are found guilty. While Gill Pratt faces a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted, the maximum penalty for Mose Jefferson would be 70 years. Betty Jefferson and her daughter would face even tougher potential sentences, totaling 339 years and 257 years of imprisonment, respectively.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...man_and_s.html
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