Statecraft Informer

BATON ROUGE, La. - Here’s A Hot One Off The Wire: Congressman loses his party’s support. Eight-term Louisiana Democrat, William Jefferson, was passed over by the party’s State Central Committee in favor of state Rep. Karen Carter.

Below you’ll find a reminder regarding Congressman Jefferson’s alleged illegal activities, which as is the case so often these days, was caught on tape. Naturally, he denies any wrongdoing, so the party, no doubt hoping people would just forget about it, waited until three weeks before elections to throw their support to someone unlikely to be indicted for anything this late in the season. It was close, though. The vote to endorse Carter was 69-53.

I must point out, of course, Jefferson has not yet been charged. Wonder if cold cash has anything to do with any of this?

HOLLYWOOD, CA. On the heels of U.S. Representative William Jefferson’s appearance on the hit summer CBS reality show, “Gotcha!,� other, many better-known, politicians, corporate CEOs and public figures are scrambling to grab their own piece of the latest American pop culture pie.

According to ratings estimates, over 20 million viewers watched as Jefferson, D-La., allegedly accepted $100,000.00 in $100 bills in exchange for his help arranging a business deal in Nigeria, and listened in as he joked with his“wiredâ€? partner that it was “as if…the FBI is watching.â€?

Announcing “I have been extraordinarily effectiveâ€? in office, Rep. Jefferson was originally indignant about the undercover FBI operation which led to the discovery of most of the $100,000.00 in the congressman’s Capitol office freezer, wrapped up in aluminum foil like pork chops. He claimed at the time that “There are two sides to every story…certainly two sides to this storyâ€? while protesting his innocence to the Capitol Hill press corp.

Then a third side was uncovered, as CBS acknowledged its deal with Jefferson and his team of attorneys for the exclusive rights to his “tragic American tale of unlawful government searches and seizures, manipulations and entrapments,â€? will eventually net the congressman at least ten times his original “allegedâ€? haul. “It’s true,â€? a CBS spokesperson commented, “With residuals, syndication fees and a possible book deal, Mr. Jefferson has been able to, as he put it at the time of the sting, ‘…make a deal for my children.’â€?

Perhaps upset that their own attorneys had not effectively represented their interests, personalities ranging from Enron’s Ken Lay to several members of the Kennedy clan, have let it be known that certain audio and/or video tapes “may exist� which allegedly might tend to incriminate them, and which could possibly become available “under the right set of circumstances.�

As part of its new series launch, CBS has announced that the next episode of “Gotcha!,� a special two-hour event, will deal with “a pivotal moment in recent US Presidential history, and reveal for the first time the contents of approximately 18 1/2 minutes of recently recaptured audiotape.� Although CBS has only aired one episode of “Gotcha!� so far, the network is already planning for series spin-offs, including, “ Heartland Gotcha!,� “Newlywed Gotcha!,� and “Gotcha LIVE!�

Over at rival NBC, sources revealed the network is developing its own “gotcha� concept for the upcoming season, tentatively called, “Sting: The TV Show.� Meanwhile, MTV executives claimed to have already “patented� the whole idea, and let slip its intentions to begin filming “Cancun Cribs Confidential,� while the CW network announced its plans for “Cracktown Smackdown,� an undercover drug/wrestling format show, to begin airing in January.

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