Skip to content

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Because no one
is above the law!

Donate

Corruption Chronicles

More Desperate Tactics From Rep. Jefferson

A federal judge has rejected yet another desperate defense argument from a corrupt lawmaker who claims that his multiple-count bribery indictment unconstitutionally infringed on his privileges as a congressman.

Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson, appropriately nicknamed “Dollar Bill” for stashing a $90,000 cash bribe in his freezer, has turned to desperate measures since he got busted on an FBI surveillance tape accepting a $100,000 cash bribe. Federal agents subsequently found $90,000 of the money wrapped in aluminum foil and stashed in the freezer of his Washington D.C. home.

The shameful incident was the culmination of a 16-month federal investigation into Jefferson’s solicitation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes during his nine terms in the House of Representatives. The lawmaker used his influence on a powerful House Africa Caucus to illegally perform official acts for nearly a dozen companies in return for hefty bribes.

Ever since Jefferson was indicted in the bribery scandal last summer, he has played a number of rather bizarre defense cards that seem to support his guilt and help illustrate true desperateness on the part of his legal team.

First, the Ivy League graduate legislator, who is black, played the race card and asked a judge to move his corruption trial from the jurisdiction (Virginia) where he was caught taking money on video because there aren’t enough blacks for the jury pool.

A few weeks later, Jefferson asked a judge to suppress incriminating testimony he made to the FBI because he was not advised by agents of his right to remain silent and right to speak with an attorney, even though he is himself an attorney and should have known not to speak to agents.

This week Jefferson argued that most of the charges against him should be thrown out because grand jury testimony given by his staffers violated the Constitution’s speech and debate clause that protects legislative activity from intervention by other branches of government.

In rejecting the argument, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis ruled that Jefferson’s interpretation was overly broad and would prevent a member of Congress from ever being formally accused of a crime associated with their legislative work. “It’s not an expansive immunity, the judge said. It’s a focused immunity.”


Related

Biden Corruption Back in Court!

Court Orders Justice Department to Commit on Releasing Biden Audio Tapes Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department Again Over Hunter Biden Investigation Cover-Up CBP Agent Charged wit...

Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department Again Over Cover-Up of IRS Investigation of Hunter Biden

Press Releases | February 14, 2025
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a second Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records and communications...

Millions for Kamala’s Failed Root Causes of Irregular Migration Venture Flowed through USAID

Corruption Chronicles | February 14, 2025
The frenzy over President Trump’s crackdown on flagrant waste at the nation’s scandal-plagued global aid agency is finally bringing widespread attention to the outrageous programs ...