Congressman Jefferson Brings in Heavy Hitter PR Pro
EmailTroubled Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) has hired former Monica Lewinsky spokesperson Judy Smith. The Congressman faces an uphill public relations battle as he is the subject of a corruption probe by the FBI.
Uphill battles are Smith’s specialty. Crisis management in Washington, D.C. is big business, and Smith specializes in turning the political catastrophes of others into her own professional opportunities.
Known best as the woman who spoke for Monica Lewinsky, Smith also handled communication services for Saudi Arabia post-9/11 after the kingdom was accused of being a breeding ground for terrorists. As White House deputy press secretary in the early 1990s, Smith handled the accusations of sexual harassment made by Anita Hill after Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court.
Smith will have her work cut out for her on her next gig. Despite the fact that two of his associates have pled guilty to bribery-related charges, Jefferson has maintained his innocence and has said he will not resign. The Congressman has not been charged.
Officially, Smith will be the liaison between the media and Jefferson’s legal team, led by attorney Robert Trout. As one of her first acts of business, she released a statement earlier this week saying the congressman’s defense team will appeal the district court’s ruling upholding the FBI’s search of the congressman’s office.
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I just want to gqag. Hire a super lawyer. Hire a super mouth piece. What a bunch of crap and I bet a bunch of others in either party are no better.
Posted by: Barney-TUCSON | July 13, 2006, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm
I would not be surprised in the least if Rep. William Jefferson is found not guilty in a federal prosecution or does not even go to trial on the bribery charge leveled against him publicly but not so officially. In my personal close-up observation of what appeared to be invincible and devastating charges against important figures in various environments in which I lived I have time and again seen the charges against some such figures come to naught (that is, abandoned, dismissed or defeated by authorities or the courts). Given that the AG/FBIs raid on the vacated House of Representatives and weekend search of and seizures of documents and materials in Rep. Jefferson’s HR office was unnecessary and excessive relative to standard federal warrant and writ-to-seize enforcement procedure (the warrant/writ could have been served on the Speaker of the House or his delegate and the congressman’s office searched and seized upon in the presence of House officers and federal law-enforcement staff, and in the unconsenting presence of the concerned congressman), the indication is that this AG/FBI search and seizure was really a politically motivated action, under the color or cover of legitimate enforcement on a ostensibly real crime (cherry picking of the worst case scenario from among the few Democratic political miscreants having come to note), to produce a giant news media splash (to divert attention from the plethora of Republican political miscreants who have occupied public attention for so long), as the November congressional, and miscellaneous state office, elections loom near and large. I surmise that the AG/FBI’s public declarations of having video tapes of the bribery transaction/s, as well as having secured $90,000.00 in allegedly marked bribery bills from the congressman’s home freezer, are in part meant to discourage vigorous representation for him and to terrify him into coping a plea bargain or easy guilty please for a lighter sentence as well as to terrify the congressman into publicly arguing his innocence, being the points of his trial defense. The AG/FBI of course would utilize the latter, to prepare in advance of a trial a prosecution case to rebut and undermine such defense during a trial, when the congress would normally bring the same defense argument/s to bear. Since the congressman is running for reelection this year and expects the AG/FBI to make an official charge against him and gear up their prosecution in synchrony with the oncoming election season, he apparently has secured a PR person who will hopefully most effectively permit him to compete to retain his office in the coming elections and protect his criminal defense agruments and strategy from disclosure prior to his likely coincidentally coinciding official charging and federal criminal prosecution.
Posted by: truth | July 13, 2006, 7:07 pm 7:07 pm
Blah ba blah ba blah……A big waste of time and tax payer money. The catch phrase is “The congressman has not been charged yet”. Nor will he be charged. He’s a politician and it’s not the politically correct thing to do. The liberal press will spin this case favoring the Democrat and exploit the entrapment angle. He will walk.
Posted by: botcha-galoop | July 14, 2006, 10:57 am 10:57 am
Hey Barney! Do you not read the news? They have the guy that was bribing him singing now.
Posted by: Bob | July 14, 2006, 2:24 pm 2:24 pm
Barney,
Are your familiar with “.”? Maybe they are trying to crucify him because he is black? Hmmmm? No, maybe, just maybe, he really did something illegal? Don’t fret too much though. I’m sure there are probably a few other of our “trusted” officials out there that do the same.
Posted by: Gerry | July 20, 2006, 1:56 pm 1:56 pm