Ah, Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA).
From Roll Call:
You might think that a guy whoâs still the subject of a federal bribery investigation would be more careful than to use taxpayer resources to raise campaign money. But nope, not Jefferson. And heck, he still hasnât provided us with that âhonorable explanationâ he promised for the bizarro (and alleged) $90,000 in cash federal agents confiscated from a freezer in his Capitol Hill home.
Last week, House Democrats were shocked to receive a letter from Jefferson â on his official Congressional stationery, no less â asking colleagues to donate money to help him retire his campaign debt.
âAs you know,â the letter, dated Dec. 29, 2006, began, âI recently won a grueling race for re-election.â (And won resoundingly in a runoff, despite the ongoing federal probe in which two people have already pleaded guilty.) âIn order to get our message out and otherwise compete, we incurred over $200,000 in debt.
âTherefore, I would deeply appreciate it if you would assist me in retiring my debt by contributing $1,000 (or whatever amount you can afford) to my campaign,â Jefferson wrote.
To use public resources to make a fundraising pitch is against House rules, of course. As an explanation, Jefferson’s office said it was “a tremendous â tremendous â staff error.”