Jefferson: Indictment Won’t Stop Me

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Reading back through Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-LA) statement this afternoon, it’s apparent that he has resigned himself to the fact that he will be indicted. And rather than wait around until the U.S. Attorney’s Office actually does it, he’s decided to make his big speech beforehand.

It’s hard to draw any other conclusion than that from a line like:

No one wants to be indicted. I certainly do not and I certainly do not want anyone – a family member or close associate – to be indicted. But I am prepared to answer these charges formally when and if the time comes.

As far as fiery big speeches go, Jefferson went a lot farther than just saying that he’d be exonerated. He called Brett Pfeffer and Vernon Jackson, two business associates of his who’ve pled guilty to bribing him, liars and said that he prays “that God will forgive them.” He implied that the government’s charges were racially motivated, comparing the case against him to past prosecutions of African American members of Congress, Rep. Harold Ford, Sr. of Tennessee and Rep. Floyd Flake of New York, both of whom were cleared of the charges against them.

So I think it’s safe to say that we’ll have at least one representative running for re-election this November while under indictment. It remains to be seen whether Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) will be the second.

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