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USPS 959-680 ________________________________
May 24. 2006
Congressman Denies Bribery Charge
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland. OR 97211
Calls office search
‘outrageous intrusion’
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(AP) — A congressman under
investigation for bribery says he
will not resign in the face of allega
tions that he was videotaped ac
cepting $ I (M),(MM) from an informant,
telling reporters, “There are cer
tainly two sides to this story.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep.
William Jefferson, called an FBI
search of his Capitol office “an
outrageous intrusion.”
The FBI revealed Sunday that
Jefferson was videotaped accept
ing $ KM),(MX) in $ 1 CM) bills from an
FBI informant. Agents later found
the cash hidden in a freezer, accord
ing to court documents.
A sked if he took a bribe,
Jefferson declined to answer. He
also declined to talk about the vid
eotape or other de
tails alleged in an
FBI affidavit pre
sented to a judge
as evidence for a
warrant to search
his office Saturday
night and Sunday.
Je ffe rso n , an
e ig h t-te rm c o n
gressm an
who
turned 59 in March,
maintained his in
nocence and said
he plans to con
tinue voting in the
Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., m a k e s a sta te
House. “I expect to
m e n t upon his arrival at W ashington s National
run for re-election,
Airport, Monday, M ay 2 2 , 2 0 0 6 . (AP photo)
but that’s a matter
th a t’s dow n the
A historian with the Senate His
road,” he said.
torical Office said there is no record
He called the weekend search of of any m ember’s congressional
his Capitol Hill office “an outra office being searched.
geous intrusion into separation of
A tto rn ey G eneral A lb erto
powers between the executive Gonzales, asked about the Jefferson
branch and the congressional search, said he understands the
branch, and no one has seen this in concerns raised about FBI agents
all the time of the life of the Con raiding a congressional office.
gress.”
“I will admit that these were un
usual steps that were taken in re
sponse to an unusual set of circum
stances," Gonzales said.
The search warrant affidavit
spells out special procedures put
in place to ensure the search did
not infringe on privileged m ate
rial. The procedures include use
o f a “filter team ” o f prosecutors
and FBI agents unconnected to
the investigation. They would
review any seized items or docu
ments and determ ine whether the
docum ents are privileged and
therefore immune from the search
warrant.
If the status of a document is in
doubt, the filter team will give the
documents to a judge for a defini
tive ruling before giving them to
case prosecutors, according to the
affidavit.
The government says Jefferson
received the money in a leather
briefcase last July 30 at the Ritz-
Carlton hotel in Arlington, Va. The
plan was for Jefferson to use the
cash to bribe a high-ranking Nige
rian official to ensure the success
of a business deal in that country,
the 100-page affidavit said.
All but $10,(MM) was recovered
Aug. 3, when the FBI searched
Jefferson’s home in Washington.
Nagin Re-elected; Calls for Unity
Protection Sized To Fit
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(AP) — Newly re-elected New Orleans Mayor
Ray Nagin expressed confidence that political
opponents and business leaders would unite to
rebuild his hurricane-stricken city.
“W e’re going to bring this city together. It’s
my intention to reach out to every segment o f this
com m unity,” Nagin said Sunday, a day after
defeating Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.
Nagin said he plans to put together a com m is
sion to decide on action in the next l(M) days.
Debris removal and housing will be top priorities.
The form er cable television executive dis
missed threats by some business people who
supported Landrieu and said they would leave if
Nagin remained in office.
“ Business people are predators, and if the
economic opportunities are here, they’re going to
stay. If not, they are going to leave,” said Nagin,
in his now -fam ous vernacular. “I think there’s
enough interest around the country that w e’re
going to attract top businesses ... G od bless
them. I hope they stay but if they don’t. I’ll send
them a postcard.”
Nagin said he has spoken with Gov. Kathleen
Blanco and President Bush, reiterating his desire
to work together.
Nagin said he pressed Bush to help accelerate
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin a tte n d s a M ass
at St. P eter Claver Catholic Church in New
Orleans on Sunday, the day after his re-election.
(AP photo)
the rebuilding process and to aid with removal of
the debris. He also questioned the pending end of
federal aid for some evacuees still living in Houston
and other cities.
Oregon Soldiers Deployed to Mid-East
Brigade to train
Afghanistan
¿irmy
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AMERICAN FAMILY
■ ■ n iiiiB n »
©2005 001631 - 7/05
Ail your protection under one roof *
In a military ceremony at Camp
S h e lb y , M iss., G o v . T ed
Kulongoski deployed the nearly
1 ,(XM) soldiers from the Oregon
N ational G uard’s 4 I U Brigade
SEASONS
C om bat Team to A fghanistan
M onday, m arking the largest
overseas deploym ent o f the O r
egon G uard since W orld W ar II.
As part o f O peration E ndur
ing Freedom, the com bat team
will helptrain A fghanistan’s m ili
ta ry d u rin g th e y e a r-lo n g
deploym ent. The same unit de
ployed to Louisiana for nearly
two months in the afterm ath o f
Hurricane Katrina, where it as
sisted with relief efforts.
“As the 4 1'1 undertakes this
long and difficult deploym ent, I
can tell you that we will not only
miss their talent and dedication,
we will miss their fighting spirit—
the same spirit with which they
volunteered to serve in the Guard
and risk their lives in the defense
o f our nation,” Kulongoski said.
“ I want everyone who is part
o f this mission to know that you
take with you my thanks, my
d e e p a p p r e c ia tio n , and my
prayers. I will not sleep easy
until you are all back home and in
the loving arms o f your families
and com m unities.”
I M A R K E T I
Republicans Pushed
NAACP Probe
AT A R B O R L O D G E
I a )e, are a reyu fa r pharmacy!
W e fill p r e s c r ip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
h ig h b lo o d p r e s s u r e m e d ic a tio n s ,
a n ti- d e p re s s a n ts , b irth c o n tro l, a n d m o re .
W e h a v e k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts
w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a r e in fo r m a tio n .
O u r p r ic e s a re c o m p e titiv e W e a c c e p t m o s t
in s u r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s
re q u e s te d .
w W e s p e c ia liz e in c u s t o m c o m p o u n d in g .
M o o t y o u r P h a r m a c is t
M el n d a S u tle r
Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D , N E IG H B O R H O O D P H A R M A C Y A T A R B O R L O D G E
N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E & P O R T L A N D B L V D • 5 0 3 .4 6 7 .4 8 4 8
w w w n e w s e a s o n s m a rk e t.c o m • M O N F R I 9 a m -7 p m • SAT 9 a m -6 p m • S U N 1 O a m -4 p m
»
(A P) — Several R epublican
m e m b e rs o f C o n g r e s s f o r
w arded constituents* letters to
the Internal R evenue Service
claim ing the NA A C P had veered
into political advocacy, a p o
tential v io la tio n o f the civ il
rights g ro u p 's tax-exem pt sta
tus, a c c o rd in g to d o c u m e n ts
released by the N A A CP.
The 1RS began looking into
the N A A CP about a month be
fore the 2(M>4 presidential elec
tion after a speech by its C hair
man Julian Bond that was largely
critical o f President B ush's poli
cies.
Political cam paigning is p ro
hibited under the N A A C P 's tax-
exem pt status. The 1RS said its
inquiry w ould focus on w hether
B ond’s speech was too p o liti
cal, and that the investigation is
am ong dozens into the a c tiv i
ties o f tax-exem pt groups d u r
ing the 2004 election season.
The N A A CP received more
than 500 pages o f docum ents the
IRS has gathered to begin its
inquiry and posted them on its
W eb site. The group had made
requests under the Freedom of
Information Act.
T he docum ents include le t
ters that m em bers o f C ongress
sent to the IRS on b eh alf o f
their constituents. The law m ak
e r s in c lu d e S e n s . L a m a r
A lex an d er o f T e n n essee and
Susan M. C ollins o f M aine, Rep.
Jo Ann D avis o f V irginia, the
late Sen. Strom T hurm ond o f
S o u th C a r o lin a an d fo rm e r
Reps. Larry C om best o f T exas
and Joe Scarborough o f Florida.
All are R epublicans.