 WASHINGTON (AP) - The House approved a speedy internal investigation of indicted Rep. William J. Jefferson with a pair of votes Tuesday that could nudge him from Congress before his bribery trial. Recalling the message of the November elections that stripped Republicans of control of Congress, House members endorsed two resolutions that require the ethics committee to investigate allegations of wrongdoing more quickly than in past years.
Jefferson, meanwhile, resigned his seat on the Small Business Committee in response to his indictment on federal charges of taking more than $500,000 in bribes. Democrats already had moved to take that seat away from him. Jefferson admitted no wrongdoing. The nine-term congressman had few allies among the leaders of his own party.
| Sorta like what happens when a Chicago alderman gets indicted by the Feds. All of a sudden no one knows him and no one will stand near him on the council floor. Might be contagious, after all. |
The charges against Jefferson, ``if proven true, should lead to the expulsion of the member in question,'' said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who succeeded in ousting Jefferson from the Ways and Means Committee, issued a similar statement Monday.
Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio offered a resolution directing the ethics committee to report on whether the charges in the indictment merit Jefferson's expulsion. The House passed it, 373-26. Thirteen members voted present.
| Wonder if Allan Mollohan gets the same treatment as Jefferson? His 'alleged' crimes are just as serious, if not more so. |
Expelling a House member before a conviction would be unprecedented, according to the Congressional Research Service. But it was not clear that would happen in Jefferson's case, because the ethics committee could refuse to rule on whether the nine-term congressman should be thrown out of the House, according to a Democratic leadership aide. Still, Republicans and a few Democrats said publicly and privately that Jefferson should step down.
| He'll resign before the end of the month. |
| I dunno. He's pretty shameless. |
Hoyer, meanwhile, proposed a second resolution that directs the ethics committee to respond to the indictment of any House member by empaneling an investigative committee within 30 days. Hoyer's resolution passed 387-10, with 15 members voting present. |