For a long time, I’ve been watching the travails of Rep. William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson. “Dollar,” or as we like to refer to him in these parts, the man with the very rich freezer, was just indicted today:
WASHINGTON
(AP) — U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long-running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.
The indictment handed up Monday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years, according to a Justice Department official who has seen the document.
   Of course, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But, as I‘ve followed this back to 2005, it’s hard to not feel this guy is headed for the slammer.
   Admittedly, my view is a bit skewed because I’ve crossed this guy off my list of Democrats worth considering even slightly as members of the party once he became one of the 15 Democrats to vote for the DR-Central American Free Trade Agreement–or we liked to call them here the CAFTA 15.
   Anyone willing to vote for CAFTA–which was so bad that even supporters of past so-called “free trade” agreements couldn’t stomach a vote for this turkey–had a bad vibe about him. And, sure enough, it turns out that “Dollar Bill” had a lot more to hide than just pro-corporate sentiments: say $90,000 hidden in his freezer.
   This guy should resign now from Congress and spare the Democrats the problem of stripping him of his committee seats and probably a serious primary challenge in 2008–which he richly deserves.
