House Dems Say Goodbye To Rep. Jefferson

Posted on June 16, 2006

Via AP

House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment Thursday night while a federal bribery investigation runs its course.
Members of the rank and file approved the move after Jefferson refused for weeks to step aside on his own, and despite claims by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus that he was being treated unfairly.

Officials said the vote was 99-58. The action must be ratified by the full House, and Jefferson left open the possibility that he might at long last relent and surrender the seat on his own. “I don’t want to speculate,” he said. The session marked the culmination of a drive by the Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, to take action against the embattled Louisiana lawmaker, who maintains his innocence and has not been indicted.

“This is not about a court of law. This is about a higher ethical standard, and you know when it isn’t being met,” she told reporters several hours before the meeting.

Jefferson is black, and Pelosi, brushing aside criticism from members of the black caucus, told reporters she had been “more than fair.”

It seems that the race card gets played entirely too often these days. I doubt there was any kind of race factor involved in Pelosi’s decision. Rep. Jefferson should have resigned on his own anyway. However, Ed Morrisey believes that Pelosi may have jumped the gun.

Jefferson has not yet been charged with any crime, nor has any grand jury been empaneled to consider an indictment, as far as I have heard. While I think that Jefferson should have taken the honorable action of resigning — both from the committee and the House — Pelosi has effectively punished him for a crime for which he has not yet had his due process.

Morning Coffee thinks their may be some double standards at play:

And when you look at it objectively you can definately see a double standard. Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia remains a member of the Appropriations Committee, with broad authority over the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars a year, even though he is under investigation for earmarking tens of millions of dollars to groups associated with his own business partners. That immediately raises the question whether these funds were allocated to promote the public good or to promote his interests and the interests of his partners. I commend the Democrats for voting to remove Jefferson, yet question why they have not yet removed Mollohan.

These are all good points, but what it boils down to is removing a political thorn in their side. Jefferson was caught red handed on video in very embarrassing predicaments. The democrats have been drooling at the chance to exploit Republicans in what they have dubbed the “culture of corruption.” Unfortunately for them, this culture is hard to hold as a mantra when its tentacles extend deep into their own political party. This play by Pelosi is an effort to gain the upper hand in a political play. Regardless of whether there were double standards here, I don’t buy into the argument that they were racially motivated. It should be obvious that they were politically motivated. At the end of the day does it really matter why? We have one less shady character in a position where trust is very questionable.

Hat tip: Wizbang
Also see: Hot Air
Update: 129 democrats in the House vote to “cut and run”, but 256 total Representatives vote to stay the course.