Congressional concerns: Jefferson trial date nears, Vitter admits brothel patronage

31 Dec 2007 // New Orleans’ reputation for corrupt politicians worsened in 2007, with Sen. David Vitter, R-Metairie, forced to admit cavorting with at least one prostitute and Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, indicted on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money laundering.

Vitter’s scandal began in July when an investigation by Hustler Magazine uncovered the 46-year-old first-term senator’s phone number in the records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, a Washington, D.C., madam.

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter said after Palfrey’s phone records were made public.

After Vitter’s public acknowledgement, Jeannette Maier, the madam of a Canal Street brothel, claimed Vitter had encounters with women there as well. Vitter denied Maier’s claim.

Jefferson, a nine-term congressman, was called into question in 2005 when FBI agents uncovered $90,000 in cash stashed in his freezer. A federal court in Northern Virginia indicted him in June on charges of racketeering, money laundering and soliciting more than $400,000 in bribes in business deals in Nigeria and Ghana.

The 94-page indictment describes a dozen different bribery schemes where Jefferson allegedly abused his influence as co-chairman of the congressional Africa Investment and Trade Caucus to net hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. The violations could land Jefferson — the first African-American to represent Louisiana in the House since Reconstruction — a maximum sentence of 235 years in prison.

One Washington watchdog, Melanie Sloane of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said 2007 was a banner year in bad ethics for Louisiana.

“Only Alaska is currently rivaling Louisiana for problems with ethics,” said Sloane, executive director of the reform group. Sloane predicted 2008 would also be a big year.
“We’ll have Jefferson’s trial to watch through the spring and as for Vitter, he’ll clean up while he’s under a microscope but I predict we’ll see him (in the news) again,” she said.