A Smidgen of This, a Smidgen of That, and a Heapin' Helping of BS

So.  It seems that the Congressional Ways and Means Committee released a few choice internal IRS emails today from Lois Lerner's government account. It would be an extreme understatement to suggest that the content indicates a "dislike" of Conservatives on Ms. Lerner's part. The HuffPo reports:

In one email, Lerner called members of the GOP crazies. In the other, she called them "assholes." The committee redacted the wording to "_holes" in the material it released publicly but a committee spokeswoman confirmed to the AP that the email said "assholes."

Congress and the Justice Department are investigating whether the IRS improperly scrutinized applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

(See also The Daily Caller and The Daily Beast.)

Now, wait a minute. I thought Justice has declined to wade into this scandal. Yep. Justice is dragging its feet, arms, torso, and skull. House Judiciary Committee Chair noted (emphasis mine):

“Earlier this year, unnamed Justice Department officials leaked information to the Wall Street Journal suggesting that the department does not plan to file criminal charges over the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups,” he added. “On Super Bowl Sunday, President Obama stated that there was ‘not even a smidgen of corruption’ in connection with the IRS’s admitted targeting of conservative groups based upon their beliefs.”

I think there's more than a smidgen, a pinch, or a dollop of corruption and malfeasance on the Hill.  There are at least two participants in the communication released today, and it's unlikely that they're the only two who adhere to the opinion so eloquently expressed therein. There's clearly a whole culture of corruption and vengeance in the IRS, and they've already wielded the power of the Revenoors as a bludgeon. Does anyone really think, with a straight face, that the White House doesn't have at least nine fingers in this pie?

But, is it possible that these magic emails (and here I thought all Lerner's emails were lost, or corrupted, or stolen by aliens) will get Justice off the pot and force the appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the IRS scandal?

Unlikely.

Perhaps the media and the White House should be pounding on impeachment for Holder instead of Young President Impotent.

Maybe just a smidgen.

Louisiana Politics Rears its Interesting Head

You may recall that, back on February 12, I reported on the guilty verdicts rendered in the corruption prosecution of former New Orleans mayor, C. Ray Nagin. Within that post was a little tidbit about Nagin's fellow corruption ex-con, the frequent former Governor of Louisiana and recent occupant of a federal prison "camp," 86-year old EdwinWashington Edwards.

Edwards is what some might describe as a "colorful" figure.  Others might describe him as an eccentric fellow.  Or a corrupt scoundrel.  The term, "demagogue," also has a certain accurate ring to it.  He is definitely a raconteur.

Regardless of any epithet used to characterize The Governor, one thing is certain: the man is a championship quality politician.

In addition to occupying the Governor's Mansion for an aggregate of sixteen years, Edwards also served in the Louisiana state Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. During those early years, he grew to be a master of creating political alliances and deals, so much so that in 1983 he was famously known to have bragged that he couldn't lose an election in Louisiana unless he was "caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."  One Louisiana cartoonist came up with the following, but it was never published, making what would today be known as "viral" rounds in the state via FAX machine instead:

Weakened by a corruption scandal in 1985 (for which he was eventually acquitted, after at least one mistrial), Edwards eventually went down to defeat in 1987, withdrawing from the race when Buddy Roemer placed first in the Open Primary, and handing over the keys to the Governor's Mansion well before Roemer was to be sworn in.  But was he through?  Noooooo. Not our Edwin. He quietly girded his loins and prepared for a re-match in 1991. That race proved to be one of those you-can't-make-this-stuff-up kind of scenarios.

Governor Roemer had been wiped out politically by the mess that Edwards left him, so after the smoke cleared, the 1991 Open Primary saw first place occupied by good ol' Edwin, and second place, putting him into the run-off instead of third-place Roemer, was won by David Duke.  You know -- the David Duke who was at the time a KKK elite and radical neo-Nazi.  That was an "interesting" election, with at least one bumper sticker admonishing voters to "Vote for the Crook. It's Important,"  and the good people of Louisiana did just that -- they voted the Crook back in instead of the ultra-right-wing kook.

Edwards is also a bit of a ladies man.  He is currently in his second May/December marriage, having twice divorced -- his first marriage (to Elaine) ended after 40 years (and after having appointed her to fill an unfinished term in the U.S. Senate some 17 years earlier);  his first May/December union (to Candy) ended while he was imprisoned, because "she had suffered enough."

Edward and Candy Edwards

The current Mrs. Edwards is 35-year old Trina, also the mother of his fifth child, born in August of 2013.

The happy blended Edwards family

They met after she began corresponding with and visiting him in prison, and married after his parole in 2011. In addition to their joint venture of creating a new human being (which is just kinda creepy to think about), the Edwardses also recently partnered on an A&E television reality show, "The Governor's Wife."  The program also starred two of Edwards's 60-something daughters and Trina's sons, pictured above.  To say the show was woefully atrocious is wholly inadequate to describe just how very bad it was. Mercifully, it didn't last long.

So, why am I all about The Governor today?

You won't believe this.

Well, maybe you will.  It's happening in Louisiana, after all.

Earlier this week, on Monday, the unsinkable Edwin Edwards announced his 2014 run for the 6th Congressional District seat.  The Advocate, one of Louisiana's statewide newspapers, laid out in print what many people felt:

Many agree that former Gov. Edwin Edwards will turn a sleepy race for Louisiana’s congressional 6th District seat into something more interesting, but it’s not very likely he’ll win.

I mean, really.  A  felonious, washed-up politician, reality-show reject running for national office?  Right.

Wait. What?

Today, a local polling organization announced that Edwards is not only leading the field, he is leading by 23% over his nearest rival for the Primary.  The Daily Kos leapt into the "LA-6 just went from safe -Republican to HUGE PROBLEM for GOP" spin machine, because Edwards is, after all, a Democrat.

This race should get fully cranked up about the time pre-season  football hits.  I'm not sure which will be the more entertaining spectator sport.

See ya, C. Ray!

It took the federal jury a little more than six hours to deliberate 21 counts in the corruption trial of former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin.  The case went to the jury on Monday after 3 1/2 hours of closing arguments, and they got about three hours in the jury room that day.  Oddly enough, there was no deliberation yesterday because of a juror health "issue," and the judge thought it advisable to delay a day instead of pulling in one of the four alternates.  Probably a wise decision for appellate purposes.

Six hours.  That ain't very long, folks.  It would take almost that long to read and fill in all the verdict forms. So, what is the verdict?

TWENTY GUILTIES to one not guilty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mayor of Chocolate City is gonna be sportin' an orange jumpsuit.

Nagin's story runs along the lines of a Greek tragedy.  He was a very popular figure during his first term -- heck, even Pepper and I voted for him the first time around.  He campaigned on corruption reform and brought a businessman's perspective to the government table.  He got along fairly well with the City Council. He was an affable, sharply-dressed schmoozer with a dynamite accent who could work a room almost as well as Bill Clinton (and that's saying something!).   And then Katrina hit, and hubris got the better of him. Combine hubris with power, cover it with a self-actuated, perceived cloak of invincibility, and you set the stage for lots and lots of corruption.  And that's what the people of New Orleans got.  With second and third curtain calls.

I sat on the Mayor's Military Advisory Committee during Nagin's tenure. During that time, we sponsored a number of activities, including job fairs, informational events, air shows, and awards.  He showed up at maybe three events over an 8-year time span.  And those were early in his first term.

His sentencing is scheduled for June, but that will probably be put off a number of times.

 (Remember, it took former Congressman William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson nearly three years to report to prison after his conviction and sentencing. Being the "model prisoner," he was transferred to a federal fenceless "camp" in January of this year.  The same camp where the infamous former Governor Edwin "the only way I won't be re-elected is if they find me in bed with a dead girl or a live boy" Edwards spent a little time before early release, after which he entered into a third marriage with a thirty-something woman who had corresponded with him during his unfortunate incarceration, and became a father again at age 86.  The creepiness factor of all that is just simply immeasurable.)

Some expect him to be shown leniency, but I have my doubts.  Remember, a number of those 20 guilty counts concern federal tax evasion, and we all know how the Feds feel about tax evasion.  He will remain under house arrest until sentencing, but I don't think he has a house in New Orleans anymore.  I wonder where he'll stay.

In other news, the former Coroner of St. Tammany Parish was also fined and sentenced today to 24 months in prison following his federal corruption conviction.  At least he offered an apology to the good taxpayers whose money he misused.

All in all, this has been an unfortunate day for corruption in Louisiana. And that's a very fortunate thing for the people of Louisiana.

A Jefferson Family Update: Movin' on Out

There has been a lot of activity going on in New Orleans' once powerful Jefferson clan.

You might recall that William Jefferson is my former congressman who was convicted of bribery after federal investigators found, among other things, $90K in cold hard cash in his freezer.  He has remained free, pending appeal, since being sentenced to 13 years in the federal pen in November 2009.  Yes, it's been that long.  Oral arguments were re-scheduled for May of this year, but they have since been postponed yet again due to his attorney's battle with lymphoma.  No date has been set while Dollar Bill cools his heels out in the fresh air.

Brother Mose Jefferson, who was also convicted in 2009 on several counts of bribery and obstruction of justice, had been serving his 10-year sentence when he succumbed to cancer in May of this year. His passing got him excused from another unrelated trial for criminal fraud, not yet set, that involved a scheme to divert monies intended for charitable endeavors, cooked up by Mose and gal-pal, former City Council member and state legislator, Renee Gill-Pratt.  Her first trial in February of this year resulted in a hung jury, and re-trial begins this coming Monday.

Testifying in that re-trial against Gill-Pratt will be sister Betty Jefferson and her daughter Wanda Coleman, who pleaded guilty in the scam and took a deal.  Betty and Wanda are scheduled to be sentenced on August 31st -- happy birthday to me!

And now, it looks like there might be even a little more action on the Betty front.  You might recall that Betty Jefferson had served as the New Orleans Fourth District Assessor for a number of years, and that misappropriation of Parish funds made up the bulk of the charges against her in the bogus charity scheme with Mose, Gill-Pratt, and daughter Wanda. 

Get ready for this -- it gets even more convoluted.

It was revealed yesterday that an audit of the last five years of Betty's tenure as Assessor revealed up to $114,000 additional checks in possibly misappropriated funds.  It might be simply a matter of sloppy record-keeping, but when you consider that several of the checks drawn on the Assessor's work fund were made payable to an Assessor's office employee whose endorsement was then forged by a Jefferson family member, who subsequently kept the money, something smells stinky in the Crescent City. 

Among those invited to respond to the audit, but all of whom declined, were the office employee, Betty, Wanda, and Wanda's daughter Tawanda Coleman.  So now we've added another generation to the family business in public corruption. 

It seems to me that the Betty clan might be looking at state charges and orange jumpsuits in the near future.

I warned you previously about Bill's daughters -- the highly educated ones -- but his great-nieces and nephews didn't blip on my radar.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: this family is nothing more than a band of amoral brigands aiming to "spread the wealth" from the public and the poor by channeling it to themselves.

I'd better get the ol' radar tuned up.

Santa Brought Me an Early Present!

The full Senate voted unanimously this morning to convict Federal District Judge Thomas Porteous on all Articles of Impeachment!  He was immediately removed from the bench and will be denied his $174, 000 per year pension.

You may recall that his primary defense centered around the notion that most of the things he and his cronies were accused of doing occurred while he was sitting on the state bench, so the feds shouldn't have any problems with them.  The very brazen idea!!

As a resident of southeast Louisiana, I have only this to say:  Merry early Christmas to me!

Since they actually voted to boot out one of their own, maybe they're not all crooked in D.C..  

What am I saying?!?  They almost sucked me in!  (See: Charles Rangel.)

Thieves Who Aren't Tooo Greedy and, at Long Last, a Nobel for China

Quote of the Day -- U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, in response to an observation by defense counsel that the defendant stole only close to $1M from the Housing Authority of New Orleans (where he was CFO for three years) when he had the opportunity to abscond with so much more, remarked:

"I'm not ready to pin any medals on anyone for stealing less than he could have."

The judge was also less than impressed by the defendant's restraint of his larcenous tendencies.  Let's keep that in mind when Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters come up for trial in the House next month.

Nobel Peace Prize -- and the winner is . . . Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident and campaigner for democracy imprisoned for the crime of subversion! 

The Chinese government was not pleased.  The AP reported:

"Anticipating the award, Chinese circumvented Internet controls and called friends overseas to learn the news. Supporters and friends gathered outside Liu's central Beijing apartment, where his wife was kept inside by police. At a park, a civil rights lawyer, a retired official-turned-blogger and a dozen other people cheered and waved placards saying "Long Live Freedom of Speech." The demonstrators were later taken away by police."

President Obama observed:

"Last year, I noted that so many others who have received the award had sacrificed so much more than I."

Well, that's a big ol' Duh.

The young president also:

"[P]raised China for its stunning 30 years of transformative economic growth. 'But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected,' Obama said. [emphasis mine]

Hmmm. Political reform.  Isn't that essentially the same thing as fundamental transformation? Maybe the young president's gentle chiding was simply a wink-wink, nudge-nudge, high-five between comrades. 

When the young president has accomplished his transformative policies and commandeered all facets of the economy, maybe we here in the good ol' U. S. of A. can see our internet shut down, spouses put under house arrest, and demonstrators for Freedom of Speech hauled off by the police, too!

At least the Nobel judges bestowed the award this year to someone who had actually done something to promote peaceful existence instead of to someone who could maybe do something in the future.

Another Charming Louisiana Politician Looks Justice in the Eye

This charmer is U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous.  It's been nearly eight years since Porteous, a 1994 Clinton appointee, first came under investigation in the FBI's "Wrinkled Robe" probe.  There is ample evidence to warrant kicking his sorry corrupt butt off the bench, including damning testimony about kick-back schemes from his cronies who pleaded out, and proof that he made false statements in his own personal bankruptcy proceedings. 

Porteous has been on a "voluntary suspension" with pay (a tidy little sum of $170,000 per year!), and prohibited from hearing cases or hiring anyone, since September 10, 2008.  Yep -- he's been cooling his heels for more than 2 years now, doing little more than think about his defense and collect his checks.  The ultimate in redistributing wealth, one might conjecture.

Fortunately, the Fifth Circuit heeded a heads up that the Suspension was about to expire and issued an Order on September 8th extending its efficacy until the end of the year.  But just until the end of the year.

The House of Representatives issued Articles of Impeachment way back in March, accusing Porteous of High Crimes and Misdemeanors "in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him as a federal judge."  Today, a 12-member Senate Impeachment Trial Committee will begin a 5-day trial on the charges, ultimately sending a summary to the floor upon which the entire Senate will vote as jury, needing a 2/3 vote to convict.   There have been only 19 formal impeachment proceedings in the history of the United States, 14 of which were of federal judges.

What, you might ask, can the good judge possibly posit as a defense to such heinous allegations?

So far, it appears that his trial team will focus on the fact that most of the shenanigans cited in the Articles of Impeachment occurred while he sat on a state bench, prior to his elevation to federal court, and that he's never been officially charged with those crimes for which his buddies are currently serving time.

Doesn't that just make his benefactor, Slick Willie Clinton, (also the subject of Impeachment) look like an amateur at parsing the English language?

From the lightning-fast pace the case has assumed thus far, it's looking like the lame-duck full Senate won't hold its hearing until after the mid-terms.  They'd better get on the stick before the good judge gets in enough time to enter into his planned retirement at full salary.  I can imagine little that is less nauseating than the prospect of paying this guy $170 grand a year (plus COLAs) out of tax dollars for the rest of his worthless life.

And they'd better grow a set and dole out justice, unlike their predecessors did with former perjuring-John-in-Chief Clinton.  Failing to do so might set off a maelstrom that'll dwarf the Tea Party movement.  I envision literal torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers. 

I'd better go start plucking a few chickens, just in case.

Cultures of Criminality: By New Orleans Standards, Chicagoans are Flash-in-the-Pan Amateurs

Sunday in the Big Easy. In the dog days of August.

Last night as we left the movie theater around 8:00-ish, my stalwart Toyota told me that it was still 97 degrees outside. Today, we're forecast to tiptoe around the century mark with about 437% humidity, and I worked up a sweat this morning just setting out the oscillating sprinkler to green-up the parched patch of grass in front of Moogie's Mansion, so I'm understandably feeling a tad peckish.

And New Orleans is frankly getting on my last nerve.

Just in the last few days, multiple examples of the culture of criminality that runs this town have been reported in the local newspaper, The Times-Picayune. Those examples don't even include the Jefferson clan with all their creative high jinks, some of which are still pending trial, or other former Councilmembers.

In Friday's Metro section alone -- (1) former Nagin-administration "Technology Chief" Greg Meffert and his vendor-accomplice, Mark St. Pierre, along with Meffert's wife, were granted another postponement of their trial on kickback and bribery charges. One reason offered by the defense in support of its Motion to Postpone was the need for additional time to prepare to defend a "superseding indictment" handed up by a grand jury in early July that refined and clarified its earlier indictment to include "deprivation of 'honest services' by public officials." We're talking more than 63 felony counts, here, for defrauding the public of a million dollars. Sadly, everyone also had conflicting schedules, so the trial was postponed again, and we taxpayers must cool our heels -- again -- until late January, 2011.

(Don't you love how so many New Orleans public officials engage in "family-time crime?" The family that conspires together . . . .)

Plus, -- (2) last week, a federal judge sentenced three guys to varying prison terms after conviction "for their roles in a kickback scheme that bilked almost $300,000 from the project to widen Interstate 10 in Metairie." At least that one had gotten to the sentencing part. I don't know when that crime occurred, but they've been working on widening Interstate 10 since about the Louisiana Purchase, so there's no telling.

Then today. Today's article sent me over the edge.

It has to do with gravedigging in the seven city-owned cemeteries. About the gravedigging thing: it seems that there is none, and that there has been none since Katrina. Except, of course, for the gravedigging services creatively supplied -- for cash only -- by a city employee.

You really do need to read this article to get the whole flavor, but for those who don't have the time, here's a brief synopsis:

You apparently must go to the Division of Cemeteries (a unit of the Department of Property Management) to make arrangements to bury a loved one, and a Mrs. Wilson did just that in regard to her late mother-in-law. Mrs. Wilson met with the Interim Supervisor of Cemeteries ("interim" since Katrina, 5 years ago) who handed Mrs. Wilson a seven-page application, without requesting proof of relationship, and demanded a fee, explaining that the fee:

"was for $450: $100 to open the grave, $350 for the gravediggers -- and don't
bring anything but cash because the gravediggers get really upset about having
to deal with anything but cash."

You see where this is heading, don't you?

The $350 gravediggers didn't show up as scheduled, so Mrs. Wilson went to complain to the Cemetery Supervisor's supervisor, the Real Estate Administrator for the Department of Property Management. The Supervisor's supervisor was aghast, and explained that the city doesn't supply gravediggers -- that 's the bereaved's responsibility -- but it does collect a $100 fee to cover a "supervisor to ensure that the grave is being dug correctly."

As it stands today, after that very first complaint e-ver about a gravedigging scam, (A) a new city policy requires the payment of the gravedigging-supervisor fee to be paid by check or money order only, and (B) the Interim Supervisor of Cemeteries is still listed as a city employee.

I'm not sure what happened to poor Mrs. Wilson's deceased mother-in-law, but if I were Mrs. Wilson, I'd watch my back after ratting out the gravedigging scam.

City government seems to pay a whole lot of folks to duplicate one another's efforts and to supervise one another. I wonder how I can get me one of those $100-per-grave supervisor jobs? I'd be willing to stand out in the merciless sun to do it, cooling myself with a funeral-home fan; and I know a hole when I see one. I'd be perfect for the job!

And so it goes in the City That Care Forgot.

Chicago's public thieves can't be nearly as colorful.

Perspective

Yep.

Bearing a New Moniker, "Jailbird Bill" Will Take Extended Junket to Federal Penal Facility

That man wearing the deer in the headlights expression is "Dollar Bill" Jefferson, my former Congressman (the one who preceded Anh "Joseph the Turncoat" Cao), and he's going to have a new nickname from here on out: "Jailbird Jefferson."

Thirteen years worth of new nickname.

In passing sentence on Jailbird Bill yesterday, federal Judge T.S. Ellis, III, stated:

"Public corruption is a cancer that needs to be surgically removed. . . . I have no doubt you have led an extraordinary life; you have accomplished a great deal. . . . It makes this even all that much sadder for me and many others. Obviously you are a man of great gifts. It is a tragedy these gifts have been squandered."

Jefferson's attorneys have asked that he remain free pending appeal, which will probably take up to three years, because he's not a flight risk (translation: he has surrendered his passport) and is a "strong family man." In other words, William Jefferson could be described as an honorable man, worthy of retaining his freedom until the last possible moment.

Wasn't the same said of Brutus and the gang before their little -- forgive me -- tea party at The Forum? But, then again, was not Brutus fighting corruption rather than living it? Whither lives, "honor?" Not, I would suggest, in the Jefferson household. (Nor in the White House, but we won't go there today).

He'll probably do his time in a minimum security federal "camp," but he will be incarcerated and he will actually be doing penance for abusing the public's trust. Though short of the maximum requested by the prosecution, Jefferson's sentence is the longest imposed to date for Congressional shenanigans. Judge Ellis also warned that Jefferson's sentence would serve as a "beacon" that abuse of the public's trust will carry a price. A dear price -- at least a baker's dozen of years in our short time on this Earth for one miscreant.

Someone needs to poke Charley Rangel and point out that Jailbird Jefferson once thought himself bulletproof, too. Run and dodge, Congressman Rangel -- run and dodge.

Breaking News in the Dollar Bill Trial!

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! On 11 counts, including the RICO count. Not Guilty on 5.

That beat the over/under! I guess I'll need to replace the "Dollar Bill" pic with a former-Congressman-in-an-orange-jumpsuit mug shot. Where do they get the gall?!?!

Details to follow.

Update: "Dollar Bill" Jefferson Goes to Court

Following 5 weeks of prosecution testimony from FBI sting witnesses and co-conspirators, videotapes of money-exchanges, and audio tapes of the Congressman's own voice, the defense team for former Congressman Bill Jefferson began and rested its case yesterday. In 2 hours!

In a reversal of its previous position, the prosecution agreed to the admission of parts of the videotapes it had earlier resisted. Coming to that decision was probably made easier by the judge's comments (out of the hearing of the jury) that those excerpts don't "amount to a hill of beans" and "[i]t doesn't matter if he committed the crime for the benefit of his children, for himself, or for some charity."

Playing those tapes took up 90 minutes of the 2-hour defense. The defense then filed a Motion to Dismiss 15 of the 16 counts. Smirk.

Closing arguments begin next Tuesday. Methinks the defense is betting a little too much on "reasonable doubt."

The good former-Congressman -- always quite the dapper dresser -- should probably spend a little time at his tailor's over the next few days getting fitted for a custom-made orange jumpsuit. We wouldn't want him to look shabby at his debut in the federal hoosegow, now would we?

William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson Goes to Court

This rather sneaky-looking fellow is my former Congressman, William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson.

Harvard law and Georgetown post-doc, he first went to Washington in 1991, having been elected as the first black Congressman to represent Louisiana since Reconstruction. Jefferson was no novice in governmental ins and outs, however; he had knocked around the state Capitol as a state Senator for twelve years and clerked for a federal judge. Once established in D.C., he worked himself into a pretty powerful position, serving on Ways and Means. You might also recall that he commandeered National Guard resources four days after Katrina to take him to his flooded Uptown home where he retrieved a number of personal items and managed to divert two military trucks and one Coast Guard helicopter from rescue operations while thousands remained stranded on rooftops.

Despite this elitist misappropriation of government assets, he was easily re-elected in the fall of 2006, and even though, suspecting him of engaging in bribery, the FBI had raided his Congressional offices in May 2006. (Don't ask me to explain Louisiana voters -- they defy explanation! See Edwin Edwards and David Duke).

Then, he messed up.

He got a little too greedy and, on June 4, 2007, a federal grand jury indicted Dollar Bill on sixteen counts related to corruption, telecommunications in Nigeria, and $90,000 in cold hard cash. Literally. Wrapped in foil and stuffed into pie crust and Boca burger boxes in his freezer. The source of the cash: an FBI sting operation that had him taking the marked bills to pass along to the former Nigerian Vice President as an "incentive" to grant a telecommunications license to a company in which he would ultimately have an ownership interest. Impressed?

The charges include Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, RICO stuff, and wire fraud, among others. He could get up to 20 years in a federal pen (just as one of his proteges, former City Councilman and once-expected successor to Mayor Ray Nagin -- another fine Louisiana politician --, Oliver Thomas, moves to a half-way house to complete his sentence for public corruption). Jefferson's trial began in Virginia on June 9th (happy anniversary gift to me!!!).

So far, his defense has centered around his fuzzy contention that "he was manipulated into accepting the money by [a woman wearing an FBI wire, on videotape] and that he did 'something stupid,' and took it," but he took it as a private citizen and not as a Congressman; a Congressman who has two influence-peddling pals who have already copped pleas to the deal. All of which is a fancy way of saying that his actions don't amount to public corruption. Yeah, like Joe Average has direct contact with the Vice President of Nigeria. I'd call that a Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot moment.

During his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2008 (yeah -- we finally threw the sucker out!), he promised the people of the 2nd Congressional District "an honorable explanation" for the cash-sicles.

We're still waiting to hear. This should be good.