Court Upholds Bribery Charges Against Rep. Jefferson

A federal appeals court today ruled the bribery charges against Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) do not violate constitutional protections for legislative speech.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit unanimously affirmed a district court ruling that upheld the June 2007 indictment against Jefferson. One of Jefferson’s lawyers, Robert Trout of Trout Cacheris, told the BLT he was disappointed with the ruling and weighing options for further review.

The panel of Judges Paul Niemeyer, Allyson Duncan, and Robert King also said Jefferson’s lawyers are not entitled to a full review of all the grand jury transcripts in possession of Justice Department prosecutors.

“The principal of grand jury independence is firmly rooted and jealously protected in our federal system of justice,” Judge King wrote in the 24-page opinion. “Because it is an independent investigative body, the federal courts have consistently accorded a grand jury ‘wide latitude to inquire into violations of criminal law.’ ”

Jefferson’s lawyers argued that prosecutors had presented grand jurors with evidence of legislative acts. To assuage the fears of defense counsel, prosecutors turned over 600 pages of grand jury transcripts—testimony from Jefferson’s current and former staffers—to his lawyers for review. Mark Lytle argued for the Justice Department in the 4th Circuit.

“In these circumstances, we are satisfied that the district court, in conducting pretrial proceedings, accorded Congressman Jefferson every substantive and procedural protection to which he was entitled,” King wrote.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington participated in the Jefferson case on appeal in support of the government. CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, said in a statement: “While the Constitution protects members of Congress from having evidence of their legislative actions used against them, the Speech or Debate Clause was never intended to allow members of Congress to evade prosecution for criminal acts."

Sen. Ted Stevens’ lawyers at Williams & Connolly also challenged his indictment on speech-or-debate grounds, but U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled for the government. The defense lawyers did not appeal the ruling. Stevens was convicted at trial last month on charges of filing false Senate financial disclosure forms and is awaiting the outcome of the election in Alaska.