Democrat Congressman Busted in Bribery Sting

Rep. William Jefferson, D-La has been caught taking $100,000 in cash in an unfolding bribery scandal:

A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.

[...] As Jefferson and the informant passed notes about what percentage the lawmaker’s family might receive, the congressman “began laughing and said, ‘All these damn notes we’re writing to each other as if we’re talking, as if the FBI is watching,’” according to the affidavit.

The best part is that House Speaker Dennis Hastert is pissed that the FBI raid on Jefferson’s office oversteps constitutional limitations on executive powers:

“Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years,” the Illinois Republican said in a prepared statement.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said that he was “very concerned” about the incident and that Senate and House counsels would review it.

But warrentless wire-tapping of the rest of the nation is just hunky dory. If you ever thought the Republicans and Democrats were on separate teams, you need to read that last part again. They care about constitutional limitations when that chicken comes home to roost on their doorstep.

Update: Even DailyKos is calling for his resignation. And it also seems Jefferson was so mired in his own little world of corruption that in the midst of Katrina, he comandeered guard troops so that he could supposedly go pick up bribe money from his house.