Jefferson pleads 'not guilty' but no trial until January '08
 A breaking news report at CNN says that Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who was indicted on 16 public corruption charges Monday, pleaded 'not guilty' on all counts. He also waived his right to a speedy trial, meaning that proceedings will not begin until January 2008.
In a press conference Friday morning after the proceedings, Jefferson said he would fiercely fight the charges against him.
"I am absolutely innocent of the charges that have been leveled against me. I'm going to fight my heart out to clear my name," he said, speaking in public for the first time since the indictment was announced on Monday.
He further communicated that he would not leave office.
"I will not sacrifice my honor, or cave to political pressure...there is more at stake than..what's happening to me," he argued. "The people of the second district of Louisiana already know this - that's why they voted overwhelmingly for me in this last congressional election."
However, he did cryptically admit to making an "error in judgment."
The Congressman's statement came after the initiation of an ethics investigation against him by the Committee on Standards and Official Conduct. While House Republicans, including Minority Leader John Boehner have been vocal in their calls for Jefferson to resign, House Democrats have been more circumspect in their statements.
"I think Mr. Jefferson’s effectiveness has been substantially impaired, and I think he needs to take that into consideration as to what action he is going to take," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a Tuesday evening floor speech.
Handicapping of the trial was already underway, with a newspaper in Jefferson's home of New Orleans predicting that the judge who is hearing the case will conduct the African-American congressman's trial in a stern manner.
"[District Court Judge T.S.] Ellis, an appointee of the late President Reagan who this week ordered Jefferson's bank accounts sealed, has already signaled his disdain for political corruption," wrote Bruce Alpert at the New Orleans Times-Picayune's blog. "'Public corruption is the worst kind of virulent and malignant cancer,' Ellis said last year when he sentenced Vernon Jackson, CEO of iGate Inc., to seven years, 3 months in prison. He issued the sentence after Jackson, who is likely to be a witness in the Jefferson trial, pleaded guilty to funneling more than $367,500 in bribes to a company controlled by the congressman's family."
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