When Caught, Act Indignant

[Luke T.]

A Los Angeles-based labor contractor must pay nearly $300,000 in fines and back wages for allegedly deceiving and underpaying 88 Thai workers it sent to Hawaii to harvest onions and pineapples, the Labor Department said Monday.

Federal investigators also found that Global Horizons Inc. illegally deducted wages for housing and food, and may not have paid for the workers' transportation.

The indignant reaction:

"We've got the department really aggressively working against us instead of spending their time on the thousands of people working with no documents and really getting abused," Orian said.

Okay. Maybe this was just a one time misunderstanding...

Global Horizons has had problems with other regulators, including those in California and Washington state. In December, Washington officials revoked the company's contractor's license after years of complaints and fines.

California officials also have received dozens of complaints from Global Horizons workers, even though only a few hundred are now working in the state.

LA Times

And now we move on to Congressman William Jefferson:

The FBI revealed Sunday that Jefferson was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant, who agreed to have her conversations with the congressman taped. Agents later found the cash hidden in a freezer, according to court documents.

They found $90,000 stashed in a freezer. Hey, that doesn't mean anything. I can think of several legitimate reasons why I would put 90 grand in the freezer. Wait. No, I can't.

The Feds also searched Jefferson's congressional office.

Okay. They have the guy on tape accepting a $100,000 bribe. They found $90,000 in his freezer in his home.

So where can Jefferson get all indignant? Let's see...

He called the weekend search of his Capitol Hill office "an outrageous intrusion into separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch, and no one has seen this in all the time of the life of the Congress."

Riiiiight. Now let's take it all the way, Bill!

"I expect to run for re-election"

ABC News

 

[Beerina]

and no one has seen this in all the time of the life of the Congress

Perhaps that is part of the problem.

 

[Luke T.]

Perhaps that is part of the problem.

 

[Manny]

I can think of several legitimate reasons why I would put 90 grand in the freezer. Wait. No, I can't.

What, you've never been asked to pay for something in cold, hard cash?

 

[BPSCG]

And now we move on to Congressman William Jefferson:

Is this the same guy who got his own private National Guard ride out to his flooded house in NOLA and had them wait outside while he went in and got a suitcase and the hard drive off his PC?

ETA: Hah! Yes, it is. Wotta scumbag.

 

[Luke T.]

Is this the same guy who got his own private National Guard ride out to his flooded house in NOLA and had them wait outside while he went in and got a suitcase and the hard drive off his PC?

ETA: Hah! Yes, it is. Wotta scumbag.

Gotta rescue the cash, man. And my porn.

The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour.

 

[headscratcher4]

Hey....he was just trying to freeze his assets befor the federal prosecutors did...seems reasonable, AND HELPFUL, to me.

 

[NoZed Avenger]

That's what he gets for canceling Household Hints from Heloise and substituting those of Conyers and Delay.

 

[BPSCG]

What on earth made the FBI agents searching his house decide, "Hey, let's look in the freezer"?

 

[DaChew]

They found $90,000 stashed in a freezer. Hey, that doesn't mean anything. I can think of several legitimate reasons why I would put 90 grand in the freezer. Wait. No, I can't.

Oh come on. 90 grand? I mean, who doesn't have a little sumpn-sumpn stashed around the crib? Look, I got that right here in my... oh wait... Those are french fries.

Is this the same guy who got his own private National Guard ride out to his flooded house in NOLA and had them wait outside while he went in and got a suitcase and the hard drive off his PC?

ETA: Hah! Yes, it is. Wotta scumbag.

He's that guy? I totally forgot about him.

 

[Tricky]

Yep. This is really going to deflate the Democrats "culture of corruption" strategy. Of course, politicians of all parties have been guilty of corruption before now. It so happens that more of them have been Republicans than Democrats lately, probably because there are more of them.

And the evidence is pretty much airtight, what with the video sting. So I expect most Democrats to denounce Jefferson quite publicly. They have to present this as an anomaly, or perhaps as a Democrat who was lured to the dark side by the culture of corruption.

But none of this gives the police any right to make illegal searches, nor would they be wise to do so. That's the easiest way to get the case thrown out on a technicality.

 

[BPSCG]

And the evidence is pretty much airtight, what with the video sting. So I expect most Democrats to denounce Jefferson quite publicly. They have to present this as an anomaly, or perhaps as a Democrat who was lured to the dark side by the culture of corruption.

Begin race card countdown:
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[Manny]

They have to present this as an anomaly, or perhaps as a Democrat who was lured to the dark side by the culture of corruption.

Nah, I think they'll get off easier than that. If he's the limit, then all they have to say is "Yeah, New Orleans politics. Sigh."

 

[CFLarsen]

They found $90,000 stashed in a freezer. Hey, that doesn't mean anything. I can think of several legitimate reasons why I would put 90 grand in the freezer. Wait. No, I can't.

The money was hot?

 

[jj]

Both of these (the company and the guy) remind me of the present administration's reaction to being caught with their hands in the phone system, with no-bid contracts, you-name-it.

 

[Ian Osborne]

What, you've never been asked to pay for something in cold, hard cash?

 

[strathmeyer]

What on earth made the FBI agents searching his house decide, "Hey, let's look in the freezer"?

Are you claiming that they didn't just find the money in his freezer, but that they were actually looking for it?

 

[BPSCG]

Are you claiming that they didn't just find the money in his freezer, but that they were actually looking for it?

Well, if they weren't looking for it, what were they doing in the freezer? Finishing off the Haagen-Daas Hagen-Dass Hoggin-Doss Ben and Jerry's French vanilla ice cream?

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

And now we move on to Congressman William Jefferson:

They found $90,000 stashed in a freezer. Hey, that doesn't mean anything. I can think of several legitimate reasons why I would put 90 grand in the freezer. Wait. No, I can't.

The Feds also searched Jefferson's congressional office.

Okay. They have the guy on tape accepting a $100,000 bribe. They found $90,000 in his freezer in his home.

How long until he plays the race card?

 

[Rob Lister]

Well, if they weren't looking for it, what were they doing in the freezer? Finishing off the Haagen-Daas Hagen-Dass Hoggin-Doss Ben and Jerry's French vanilla ice cream?

Rumor has it they knew he likely kept it in a freezer of some sort. During the Katrina thing, he tied up some emergancy vehicles getting some of his personal effects from his almost flooded house. One of the personal items was a small freezer (according to rumor).

Just rumor.

I too am waiting for the race card. I will be very, very surprised and...impressed...if it doesn't get played.