Indicted Congressman William Jefferson has sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi indicating he will temporarily step down from his committee seat until his case is resolved.

“In the light of recent developments in a legal matter involving me in the Eastern District of Virginia, I hereby request a leave from my duties as a member of the House Small Business Committee pending my successful conclusion of that matter,” Jefferson wrote.

“In doing so, I, of course, express no admission of guilt or culpability in that or any other matter that may be pending in any court or before the House of Representatives,” he wrote, adding that he has supported all the Democratic ethics and lobbying reform measures passed this year.

That relieves the Speaker of having to remove him from his assignment and facing the ire of the Congressional Black Caucus.