Rep. William Jefferson, one of the CAFTA 15, just moved one step closer to indictment on corruption charges. Yes, he is innocent until proven guilty but both The New York Times and The Washington Post carry stories today that can’t make his day feel good, though the Post story is much more explicit about Jefferson’s connection to the case. The Times says:

Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing a Representative

By PHILIP SHENON

WASHINGTON, May 3 — A Kentucky technology executive pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of bribing a member of Congress in an investigation that has centered on Representative William J. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat.

While court papers have not referred to Representative Jefferson by name, they leave no doubt that the congressman and his family are the focus of the Justice Department’s investigation. Mr. Jefferson’s homes in New Orleans and Washington were searched last year by federal agents.

The Kentucky businessman, Vernon L. Jackson, chairman of iGate Inc., based in Louisville, offered his plea in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., admitting guilt to one count of bribing a public official and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Mr. Jackson acknowledged that he had paid $367,500 over four years to a company controlled by the family of a member of Congress described in court papers only as “Representative A, a member of the House of Representatives.” In exchange, the court papers say, the lawmaker helped promote iGate’s technology products to federal agencies, as well as to African governments and companies.

In January, a former aide to Mr. Jefferson pleaded guilty to charges of aiding and abetting the bribing of Representative A, a clear reference to Mr. Jefferson because of other details revealed in the court papers.

While the Post says:

Businessman Pleads Guilty To Bribing Rep. Jefferson

By Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writer
A Louisville man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to bribing Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) with more than $400,000 in payments, company stock and a share of the profits to promote the Kentucky firm’s high-tech business ventures in Africa.

Vernon L. Jackson, 53, owner of Louisville-based iGate Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe and bribery in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term of up to nine years for the crimes, which occurred from 2001 to 2005.

Jackson is the second person to plead guilty to charges of bribing the eight-term Democrat to promote iGate’s broadband technology — including Internet and cable television — in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

Jefferson denied any wrongdoing in the case yesterday, but his legal problems are steadily mounting and have undercut his party’s efforts to portray the Republicans as the party of political corruption.

The last point in the Post article dovetails with a point I’ve made before about the Democrats: if the party’s entire message to the American people is that “we’re not the Republicans and the Republicans are corrupt,” the Dems will not do well in the 2006 elections, partly because of people like Jefferson–both because he may be indicted and, more important, because his CAFTA vote shows that too many Democrats still won’t break from a close relationship to corporate power and corporate interests.

It might be time, though perhaps the calendar is late, for someone to step up and challenge Jefferson in a primary.