Remember William Jefferson? Yeah... He's Been Promoted.

Not William Jefferson Clinton, but Rep. William Jefferson (D-Louisiana). This is the same William Jefferson who:

• Five days after hurricane Katrina made landfall, utilized a National Guard detachment to recover personal effects and belongings from his home.
• This was after the truck in which he and the detachment traveled became stuck.
• The National Guard then had to mount search and rescue operations ... which included a second truck and helicopter.
• Jefferson is alleged to have received over $400,000 in bribes through a company maintained in the name of his spouse and children. This was a bribe to get the US Army to test equipment.
  
• He has been named in the guilty pleas of two associates.
• On 30 July 2005, Jefferson was videotaped by the FBI receiving $100,000 worth of 100 dollar bills in a leather briefcase at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington, Virginia.
• Lori Mody, who was wearing a wire, got Jefferson on tape discussing bribing Nigerian officials.
• On 3 August 2005, FBI agents raided Jefferson's home and found $90,000 cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers. Serial numbers found on the currency in the freezer matched serial numbers of funds given by the FBI to their informant.
• On May 24, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi publicly requested his immediate resignation from the House Ways and Means Committee ... he refused.
• On 15 June 2006, House Democrats voted to strip Jefferson of his committee assignment.

Now Pelosi has decided to put him on the Homeland Security panel?

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) criticized the move.

"They couldn't trust him to write tax policy, so why should he be given access to our nation's top secrets or making policy for national defense?

"Members of the committee have access to intelligence secrets, plots here in the country, overseas, and people under suspicion. This shows how unimportant the Democrats think homeland security is," King said.

In true "you can't pick on anyone from New Orleans" fashion Jefferson's chief of staff, Eugene Green shot back calling King's comments:

"Ridiculous and just politics."

"Representing New Orleans as he does, we're very concerned as to what happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," Green said. "It's just natural for the congressman to serve his constituents on a committee of this nature."

Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) is serving eight years and four months in prison for much the same thing as Jefferson is accused of. Cunningham pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion.