Okay, let's assume Jefferson gets indicted. What can/should the Dem leadership do?

[Stinky The Clown]

William Jefferson, the famous $90K-on-ice guy appears to be on the verge of getting indicted on multiple counts by a federal grand jury convened today in DC.

What do you think the Dem leadership can and/or should do?

[Renew Deal]

1. They should take him out of leadership positions until the trial.

He should probably resign either way.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. I **think** he's already been stripped of any assigments

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they did this to him already.

[Kagemusha]

9. He was before the November elections. I think he got new assignments.

Because the congressional black caucus read Pelosi the riot act over how he hadn't been indicted so he deserved assignments.

[rodeodance]

2. force his out==even if only temporary.

[napi21]

3. Demand his resignation from Congress, immediately!

I know that's what I would be demanding from the Pubs and I see no difference in crooks! If he can prove his innocence, fine, he can come back or run again for his seat, but until that, don't let the door hit ya....

[Stinky The Clown]

5. The thing that amazes me is that he got re-elected with this hanging over him

I did the same head shake as when Marion Barry was re-elected DC mayor .... and then elected yet again to city council.

[Bucky]

6. Tell him to go back into that freezer and find that missing $10K

Jefferson was elected to a position of public trust. If he violates that trust, as determined by a court of law, Congress should expel him.

[razorman]

13. I agree. If Pelosi and the other congressional Dems take lead

in cleaning (rather than covering) this mess up, it will reflect favorably on them, and help insulate against Repub accusations of "Democrat corruption". That being said, it seems to me that there must be something in the water in D.C. that makes honorable people (of both parties) go down the wrong road. The question is, who will actually take responsibility for cleaning up their own house? I could be wrong, but I believe that the public is looking for this.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. That 'something' in DC's water is ......... M-O-N-E-Y

[jmp]

15. ...

Yeah ... Its hard to ignore that he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

[napi21]

18. No, getting caught with the hand in the cookie jar...I understand.

Keeping the cookie jar in your FREEZER is the part I don't get!

There are well over a thousand ways to hide money, and this guy is dumb enough to use a plot from some very old movies?????

[quiet.american]

7. They should go on the offense against Republican spin right away.

GOP cockroaches will no doubt right away start crowing about how Dems "attack" them for corruption but how Dems are just as corrupt.

I'm no politico, but off the top of my head, I could see Dem leadership framing this as a debate about the difference between how GOP leadership responds to corruption within their ranks, vs. how Dem leadership responds i.e., coverup and suck up vs. transparency, responsibility and accountability.

Also, I would quietly look into who the US Attorney is behind these charges -- are they a "loyal Bushie"?

[unpossibles]

8. let him go quietly to "Rehab" and then put him on TV as a paid pundit

oh my bad. jefferson is a Democrat. Fry his ass. </sarcasm>

Seriously, they need to do whatever is necessary to show they are serious about ending corruption. In short, remove all support and power from him.

[welshTerrier2]

10. raid his freezer to help with campaign funding?

actually, to use a phrase Kucinich used last night in a different context, this could be a real "teaching moment." things like this get lots of media attention for a very short time. Democrats should strike while the iron is hot.

What's the message?

The message is that the Democratic Party believes it's well past the time to start reforming our democracy. The "small ball" here is that, if guilty, a Democrat should be punished exactly the same as a republican should be. That's a big yawn and an easy shot. The big ballgame here is to go beyond the narrow focus of corruption. There's "illegal" corruption (stealing, bribing, etc) and there's "legal" corruption.

"Legal" corruption is the infestation of our government by big money. It poisons our electoral process. It poisons our legislative process. It poisons our democracy.

It's time for the Party to speak the truth to the American people about reclaiming their voice in Washington. Democrats should lead the charge on this. We can no longer allow the "special interests" to be more "special" than the average American citizen. It's time to purge the corporatists from the halls of government. It's time to restore power the people (i just made up that phrase, honest). It's time to stop pretending that if we could just "clean up the corruption", our government would function as it's supposed to.

The American people know all too well the system is badly broken. They understand the desperate need for real reform. Democrats seem unable to wean themselves off the K-Street money pipe. Maybe that will help them win an election or two; it won't help them in the longterm when the fickle corporations find a reason to start backing the republicans again. And it certainly won't help the country or the American people.

Do the right thing Democrats and make publically financed campaigns a reality. Ban the paid lobbyists. Restore the fairness doctrine. Fight for our democracy.

I have little hope this will happen anytime soon. The history's lesson is all too clear. What will Democrats do with a Jefferson indictment? They'll disavow his illegal actions and nothing more. I guess that's their version of Jeffersonian democracy.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Okay ... its official ....... 16 count indictment

[jaxx]

17. Wow 16 counts. They're not messing around.

[asjr]

12. If he is truly guilty, then he is guilty, but

why has it taken the Repubs so long to take action? If guilty he should leave, but, pardon my tinfoil hattiness, but could this have been a set-up? I trust no one in the Bush administration.

[napi21]

19. Investigations take time! Look how long the Libby thing lasted!

I agree with you on your mistrust of this admin, but Jefferson hasn't said ANYTHING in his defense! All he keeps saying is I'm innocent. I saw a reporter shoot a question at him about why he had $90M in his freezer, but instead of saying "Someone must have planted it", or "I don't know", all he said was I'm innocent.

Sorry, but if someone found something like that in MY freezer, I'd be friggin screaming! As a victim of a GOOD SET UP I may not ever be found not guilty, but damn it, you'd never be able to say I wasn't verbally fighting some BS like that!

I have several tin foil hats in MY closet too, but this case smells every bit as bad ad the DeLay case, and they're both using the same damn defense...I'M INNOCENT!

[Zodiak]

14. get rid of him.

As if I care about corrupt politicians of any stripe.

Any less would make me a hypocrite.

[Jersey Devil]

20. Kick him out of Congress pronto

Normally I would say to wait for a trial or guilty plea, but $90K in his freezer? Come on! They guy is a total embarrassment.

[radfringe]

21. Jefferson shouldn't have even been allowed to return to congress

he should be taken off of ALL committees, and go on some sort of leave until the investigation is completed

meanwhile, congress should do it's own investigation into the influence of money in politics and start putting forth some REAL ethics bills