H
Harry Dope
Guest
Watchdogs hit Jefferson on 'blood diamond' trips
By Susan Crabtree
Posted: 01/23/08 12:01 AM [ET]
Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who is fighting a wide array of
corruption and bribery charges, violated House ethics rules in failing to
report three trips to Botswana aimed at convincing him to oppose limits on
"blood diamond" imports into the U.S., according to ethics experts.
Jefferson, whose name recently turned up in the prosecution of a
former diamond executive in Botswana, took four trips to that country
beginning with a 2001 trip sponsored by the Botswana Confederation of
Commerce, Industry and Manpower in April 2001.
Jefferson reported the trip, taken with his daughter Jelani, to the
ethics panel, and estimated its costs at $20,753. But he never reported
three subsequent visits to the country, which Botswana's government argues
were funded illegally.
The Botswana government has charged Louis Garvas Nchindo, the former
director of Debswana Diamond Co. Ltd., with illegally funding trips to
Botswana, including the three Jefferson and his family took. The trips cost
a total of $102,000, according to the Botswana charging documents obtained
by The Associated Press.
Nchindo pretended the trips were sanctioned by the Botswanan
government as official business when they were really private trips
benefiting Jefferson's and Nchindo's business interests, according to the
Botswana government.
At the time of the trips, Congress was debating whether to impose
trade restrictions on African diamonds to try to filter out imports of
"blood diamonds." That term refers to the precious stones mined and sold in
war-torn countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola and the Republic of the
Congo that finance warlords' atrocities.
In 2001, Jefferson signed on as an original co-sponsor to the "Clean
Diamonds Act" introduced by then-Rep. Tony Hall (D-Ohio). Hall's bill would
have banned the import of diamonds whose origin cannot be traced through a
chain-of-custody system devised by the diamond industry. The system would
have required that diamond imports be certified to ensure they are not blood
diamonds.
Jefferson dropped his sponsorship of the bill right before he left on
a trip sponsored by the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and
Manpower in April 2001.
Because Jefferson took his name off the list of the Clean Diamond Act's
co-sponsors, it would be difficult for him to claim that the trips were only
related to private business interests and did not require the filing of a
disclosure form within 30 days of returning. Jefferson also did not list a
previous business relationship with Debswana on his financial disclosure
forms.
"It's unclear whether Jefferson qualifies for the personal business
exception given that he didn't seem to have a formal relationship with
Debswana or to be employed by it," said Tara Malloy, associate counsel at
the Campaign Legal Center.
Even if Jefferson regarded the trips as completely unrelated to his
congressional duties, House ethics rules require all travel "resulting from
outside activities that exceeds $260 in value in a calendar year" to be
reported in annual financial disclosure statements. A review of Jefferson's
2001 and 2002 financial disclosure forms found no mention of the trips.
"A member of Congress is not allowed to keep private business dealings
from the public," said Public Citizen's Craig Holman. "Disclosure is
mandatory - no ifs, ands or buts."
Debswana, a partnership between the Botswana government and De Beers
SA, opposed Hall's bill. They argued the bill was too burdensome because it
extended to all jewelry and even loose stones and that its deadlines for
certifying that stones were not blood diamonds were too strict.
When Jefferson, who sat on the Ways and Means trade subcommittee that
would take up the bill first, returned from the initial Botswana trip, he
told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the Hall bill would interrupt the
Botswana economy and make it difficult to carry out its programs to
eradicate HIV and AIDS.
"In Botswana, they are funding roads and health centers and schools
with these diamonds and a big new effort to get rid of HIV and AIDS," he
said. "They can't have their development interrupted while someone figures
out whether the diamonds came from Botswana or Sierra Leone."
--
"Impeachment is off the table" Nancy Pelosi
By Susan Crabtree
Posted: 01/23/08 12:01 AM [ET]
Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who is fighting a wide array of
corruption and bribery charges, violated House ethics rules in failing to
report three trips to Botswana aimed at convincing him to oppose limits on
"blood diamond" imports into the U.S., according to ethics experts.
Jefferson, whose name recently turned up in the prosecution of a
former diamond executive in Botswana, took four trips to that country
beginning with a 2001 trip sponsored by the Botswana Confederation of
Commerce, Industry and Manpower in April 2001.
Jefferson reported the trip, taken with his daughter Jelani, to the
ethics panel, and estimated its costs at $20,753. But he never reported
three subsequent visits to the country, which Botswana's government argues
were funded illegally.
The Botswana government has charged Louis Garvas Nchindo, the former
director of Debswana Diamond Co. Ltd., with illegally funding trips to
Botswana, including the three Jefferson and his family took. The trips cost
a total of $102,000, according to the Botswana charging documents obtained
by The Associated Press.
Nchindo pretended the trips were sanctioned by the Botswanan
government as official business when they were really private trips
benefiting Jefferson's and Nchindo's business interests, according to the
Botswana government.
At the time of the trips, Congress was debating whether to impose
trade restrictions on African diamonds to try to filter out imports of
"blood diamonds." That term refers to the precious stones mined and sold in
war-torn countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola and the Republic of the
Congo that finance warlords' atrocities.
In 2001, Jefferson signed on as an original co-sponsor to the "Clean
Diamonds Act" introduced by then-Rep. Tony Hall (D-Ohio). Hall's bill would
have banned the import of diamonds whose origin cannot be traced through a
chain-of-custody system devised by the diamond industry. The system would
have required that diamond imports be certified to ensure they are not blood
diamonds.
Jefferson dropped his sponsorship of the bill right before he left on
a trip sponsored by the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and
Manpower in April 2001.
Because Jefferson took his name off the list of the Clean Diamond Act's
co-sponsors, it would be difficult for him to claim that the trips were only
related to private business interests and did not require the filing of a
disclosure form within 30 days of returning. Jefferson also did not list a
previous business relationship with Debswana on his financial disclosure
forms.
"It's unclear whether Jefferson qualifies for the personal business
exception given that he didn't seem to have a formal relationship with
Debswana or to be employed by it," said Tara Malloy, associate counsel at
the Campaign Legal Center.
Even if Jefferson regarded the trips as completely unrelated to his
congressional duties, House ethics rules require all travel "resulting from
outside activities that exceeds $260 in value in a calendar year" to be
reported in annual financial disclosure statements. A review of Jefferson's
2001 and 2002 financial disclosure forms found no mention of the trips.
"A member of Congress is not allowed to keep private business dealings
from the public," said Public Citizen's Craig Holman. "Disclosure is
mandatory - no ifs, ands or buts."
Debswana, a partnership between the Botswana government and De Beers
SA, opposed Hall's bill. They argued the bill was too burdensome because it
extended to all jewelry and even loose stones and that its deadlines for
certifying that stones were not blood diamonds were too strict.
When Jefferson, who sat on the Ways and Means trade subcommittee that
would take up the bill first, returned from the initial Botswana trip, he
told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the Hall bill would interrupt the
Botswana economy and make it difficult to carry out its programs to
eradicate HIV and AIDS.
"In Botswana, they are funding roads and health centers and schools
with these diamonds and a big new effort to get rid of HIV and AIDS," he
said. "They can't have their development interrupted while someone figures
out whether the diamonds came from Botswana or Sierra Leone."
--
"Impeachment is off the table" Nancy Pelosi
