Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON –  It’s almost judgment day for ex-Rep. William Jefferson,   the New Orleans Congressman who at one time seemed invincible.

That was at one time.  Last year, he lost his seat in a bid for a 10^th term.  Then this past summer he was convicted by a federal jury on 11 of 16 public corruption charges in Alexandria, Va.

This Friday the 13^th, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III will sentence him in Alexandria. The government is asking for a sentence of  27 to 33 years.  It says that’s what the federal sentencing guidelines call for. Still, I’ll be shocked if the sentence comes any where near that.  I’m predicting something closer to 10 to 12 years. OK, maybe 15 tops. But no more.

I could be off, but here’s my thoughts. Jefferson is 62. That’s got to be taken into consideration. A long sentence  would essentially amount to a life sentence. His crimes are egregious and an insult to the public,  but they’re not worthy of a life sentence.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan/dod photo

WASHINGTON – The FBI issued a statement Monday on the Fort Hood, Tex., shooting, saying that “at this point there is no information to indicate Major Malik Nidal Hasan had any co-conspirators or was part of a broader terrorist plot.”

“ The investigation to date has not identified a motive, and a number of possibilities remain under consideration,” the statement said.

At the same time, the Washington Post reported that Hasan, who was hospitalized after being shot multiple times, was in  contact via email earlier this year with a  radical cleric in Yemen who has been critical of the U.S. for what he sees as a war against Islam.

“U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted between 10 and 20 e-mails from Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshipped, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said later Monday,” the Post reported.  “Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, Hoekstra said, but he described the responses as “innocent.”

William J. Jefferson

WASHINGTON — Ex-Rep. William  Jefferson, who is painfully aware of “the stain on his honor”,  should get a sentence of less than 10 years, not the 27 to 33 years recommended by the prosecution, Jefferson’s lawyer wrote in a motion filed Monday.

“No court has ever imposed a sentence longer than 100 months in a case involving a United States Congressman, even a United States Congressman convicted of bribery after a trial,” Jefferson’s attorney Robert P. Trout wrote just days before Friday’s sentencing in Alexandria, Va.

” In light of all of the facts and circumstances set forth… the defense urges the court to impose a sentence of less than 10 years in this case,” Trout wrote. Jefferson was convicted in the summer of 11 of 16 counts of corruption.

John Gotti Jr./trutv.com

It’s now down to the final lap: closing arguments in racketeering trial of John Gotti Jr. Prosecutors hope they can nail it this time after seeing the last three trials end in a mistrial.

On Monday, during closing arugments, the prosecution told a federal jury in New York that Gotti built and “ran a massive cocaine trafficking operation”, according to the New York Daily News.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Trezevant told jurors Gotti did “whatever was necessary” to run the drug operation, the Daily News reported. The defense was scheduled to deliver its closing in the afternoon.

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Eleanor Holmes Norton/official photo

WASHINGTON — Under the category of “things that won’t go away” comes another bill to try and get a local prosecutor for the District of Columbia. Right now the U.S. Attorney handles both federal and local crimes.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has once again introduced a bill  that would create a local district attorney post, according to BLT: The Blog of LegalTimes.

“There is no law enforcement issue of greater importance to our residents, or on which we have less say, than the prosecution of local crimes here,” the legal blog quoted Norton as saying in a statement while introducing the bill last week.

“A U.S. Attorney has no business in the local criminal affairs of a local jurisdiction,” she added. “This bill simply would make the District’s prosecutor accountable to the people by electing him or her, as elsewhere in the nation.”

BLT says Norton introduced similar bills in 2003, 2006 and 2007.

Rich Kolko (left) and FBI’s Jeff McCrehan at going away party/ticklethewire.com photo

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON —  Two key people in the FBI’s National Press Office  have just left the mothership to take on duties elsewhere.

Brian P. Hale of the National Press Office is moving over to U.S.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement to become Director of  the Office of Public Affairs.   Both  Hale and Kolko start their new jobs on Monday and celebrated their departure at a party at the Capitol City Brewing Company in downtown D.C. last Thursday night.

Brian Hale /ticklethewire.com photo

Kolko has had an interesting career path. He worked at CNN as an assignment editor and producer before joining the FBI.
He worked the FBI’s counterterrorism Fly Team and worked nearly 10 years in Atlanta primarily on terrorism issues.

In 2005, he was appointed chief of the FBI National Press Office under assistant Director John Miller, who recently left to move over to another agency. Earlier in his life, he served as an Aviator in the Navy.

At the FBI Press Office, Hale handled international and national media inquiries dealing with counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction and operational technology.

He also served as the Office of Public Affairs primary media training instructor.

Before joining the FBI, he worked as the press relations manager for the D.C.-based international law firm Patton Boggs. Before that, he worked as a field producer for ABC News’ 20/20.