WASHINGTON (AP)- House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment Thursday night while a federal bribery investigation runs its course.

Members of the rank and file approved the move after Jefferson refused for weeks to step aside on his own, and despite claims by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus that he was being treated unfairly.

Officials said the vote was 99-58. The action must be ratified by the full House, and Jefferson left open the possibility that he might at long last relent and surrender the seat on his own. “I don’t want to speculate,” he said.

The session marked the culmination of a drive by the Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, to take action against the embattled Louisiana lawmaker, who maintains his innocence and has not been indicted.

“This is not about a court of law. This is about a higher ethical standard, and you know when it isn’t being met,” she told reporters several hours before the meeting.

Jefferson is black, and Pelosi, brushing aside criticism from members of the black caucus, told reporters she had been “more than fair.”

The FBI says Jefferson stashed $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer. Two men have pleaded guilty in the probe.

Pelosi asked Jefferson last month to give up his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee voluntarily, pending completion of the investigation. When he refused, she resolved to force him off, saying that Democrats would set the bar as high as possible for conduct by a lawmaker.

Most Democrats support Pelosi’s action, including some in the 42-member Congressional Black Caucus, and there was little doubt about the vote. Even so, the black caucus issued a statement last week invoking the Constitution’s guarantee of “the presumption of innocence” and opposed the effort to force him off the committee.

Some black Democrats went further, warning that the party risked alienating loyal voters if it required Jefferson to surrender his committee seat until his legal situation is clarified.

Pelosi granted several interviews last week to reporters from black newspapers and radio stations in an attempt to rebut her critics.

Asked about Jefferson at her news conference, she said: “He is being afforded his due process, more than his due process, and my caucus knows that. We have a higher ethical standard. This is not a court of law.”

She said she had been “more than fair” in terms of opposing an FBI raid on his congressional office, supporting his court brief to get his records back and giving him time.

“This would have been done in an instant if I were not trying to be more than fair with him,” she said.

The two men who have been found guilty are a former aide to the congressman and the head of a telecommunications company.

Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson aide, was sentenced to eight years in prison last month for conspiring to commit bribery and aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official.

Vernon Jackson, 53, chief executive of iGate Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based telecommunications company, pleaded guilty May 3 to paying more than $400,000 in bribes to Jefferson.

Additionally, the FBI claims that it videotaped the Louisiana Democrat last summer taking $100,000 in bribe money and that agents later found $90,000 of the funds stashed in a freezer in his home.

FBI agents carried out a weekend search of Jefferson’s congressional office in May, triggering criticism from congressional leaders who claimed agents had encroached on Congress’ constitutional powers.

President Bush intervened and ordered the seized material turned over to a Justice Department official not involved in the investigation. He ordered the material withheld for 45 days to allow time for discussion of ground rules for such searches.

AP-ES-06-15-06 2038EDT

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