[NYTr] Congress freezes Jefferson ethics probe at "Justice" Dept request

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Raw Story - Aug 6, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Congress_freezes_Jefferson_ethics_probe_at_0806.html


Congress freezes Jefferson ethics probe at Justice Department request

Michael Roston
Raw Story

The House Ethics Committee stopped its probe into the actions of Rep.
William Jefferson (D-LA) upon the request of the Justice Department. The
Justice Department had warned that the investigation would interfere
with the government's prosecution of Jefferson, who was indicted on 16
public corruption counts in June.

"[A]fter careful deliberation, the Investigative Subcommittee has voted
to refrain at this time, [emphasis original] from attempting to
interview or depose witnesses linked to the criminal proceedings
involving Representative Jefferson," according to a Friday, Aug. 3
press release from the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

The Committee added that it had received 'multiple communications' from
the Department of Justice, "expressing concern that such investigative
actions might create legal or factual issues that would complicate or
impede the criminal prosecution and related law enforcement efforts in
this matter."

But the ethics investigators also said that they would "consider
pursuing avenues of inquiry that it concludes do not interfere with the
criminal indictment" of Jefferson.

The Ethics Committee's action was first reported by Roll Call's Susan
Davis.

While Congress has deferred to the Justice Department on its ethics
investigation, the move comes on the heels of a federal appeals court's
Friday ruling that the Justice Department overstepped constitutional
boundaries when the FBI raided Jefferson's Congressional office in 2006.

The House Ethics Committee resumed its investigation of Jefferson in
June after Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed a 'pool' of
House members who were able to serve on 'investigative subcommittees.'
House Republican Leader John Boehner had criticized Pelosi for failing
to continue the investigation of Jefferson that was first initiated in
the 109th Congress.

RAW STORY also reported at the time that two of Pelosi's picks for the
investigative 'pool' had donated to Jefferson's political campaign or
legal defense fund. The Democratic member ultimately chosen for the
investigative subcommittee, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), has not donated
money to Jefferson. Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA), the Republican member
appointed to the investigative subcommittee by Rep. Boehner, has
donated to the campaign of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ). Renzi is currently
the subject of a federal investigation, and recently stepped down from
his seat on the House Appropriations Committee.

The Ethics Committee's report can be downloaded at
<http://www.house.gov/ethics/Press_Statement_Jefferson_Subcomm2.pdf>