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Former US representative William Jefferson of Louisiana was the victim of racist persecution yesterday when a jury convicted him after a Bush-era witch hunt used tainted evidence to smear a Black man.
Jefferson was the first black congressman elected in Louisiana since Reconstruction and served as cochairman of congressional caucuses on Nigeria and African trade during his nine terms in office. Jefferson, 62, could spend the rest of his life in prison unless pardoned or freed on appeal.
It wasn't the only time vengeful Republican racists used the Bush Justice Department to undo the will of the voters.
The case was best known for the unprecedented Bush-era FBI’s May 2006 seizure of Jefferson’s computer and official files from the Rayburn House Office Building. It was the first time federal agents had ever raided a congressional office.
If Jefferson had been white, would it have happened?
The documents were clearly privileged legislative material not subject to search and thus were illegally obtained.
Jefferson was the first black congressman elected in Louisiana since Reconstruction and served as cochairman of congressional caucuses on Nigeria and African trade during his nine terms in office. Jefferson, 62, could spend the rest of his life in prison unless pardoned or freed on appeal.
It wasn't the only time vengeful Republican racists used the Bush Justice Department to undo the will of the voters.
The case was best known for the unprecedented Bush-era FBI’s May 2006 seizure of Jefferson’s computer and official files from the Rayburn House Office Building. It was the first time federal agents had ever raided a congressional office.
If Jefferson had been white, would it have happened?
The documents were clearly privileged legislative material not subject to search and thus were illegally obtained.
