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Lawmaker taped accepting cash: court document

Posted on: Sunday, 21 May 2006, 20:10 CDT

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents videotaped Rep. William Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, accepting $100,000 in cash they said was intended as a bribe for a Nigerian official and later found $90,000 of the money hidden in his freezer, according to a court document released on Sunday.

The document said the eight-term congressman received the cash from an FBI informant, who approached the bureau in March 2005 with her suspicion that Jefferson and two business associates conspired to defraud her out of $3.5 million.

Jefferson, a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has been under investigation for his role in helping a Nigerian company with an Internet venture. He has maintained his innocence in the matter.

The court document was the basis for an FBI search of Jefferson's congressional office on Saturday and Sunday. The FBI had no comment on what it found in the 18-hour search.

According to the document, the FBI recorded a series of conversations between Jefferson and the informant, leading up to a July 30, 2005, meeting at a hotel in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. What happened next was captured by the FBI on videotape, the document said.

"At the close of the meeting, (the informant) and Congressman Jefferson exited the building and stood before the open trunk of (the informant's) car. At that time, Congressman Jefferson reached in and removed a reddish-brown colored leather briefcase which contained $100,000 cash in denominations of $100 bills," according to the court document.

"He placed the briefcase in a reddish-brown colored cloth bag, then took the bag, containing the briefcase and the $100,000 in cash and placed it inside the passenger compartment of his 1990 Lincoln Town Car and drove off."

According to the document, the money was to be used to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian government official who had agreed to help an American telecommunications company do business in Nigeria.

FBI agents searched Jefferson's Washington residence on August 3 and found $90,000 of the cash in his freezer, stuffed in frozen food containers and aluminum foil, the document said.

'OBVIOUS ATTEMPT TO EMBARRASS'

Jefferson's attorney, Robert Trout, criticized the FBI for releasing the court document, which he said was "an obvious attempt to embarrass Congressman Jefferson" on the part of prosecutors who have not charged the lawmaker with any crime.

"It would not be appropriate to comment on the details in the affidavit at this time," Trout said. "The congressman has consistently maintained his innocence, and if he is charged he will respond at the appropriate time."

In a statement last week, Jefferson denied any wrongdoing and said he had no intention of stepping down.

"I wish to say emphatically that in all of my actions here under scrutiny, that I never intended to dishonor my office, or you, the public, and I certainly did not sell my office," Jefferson said.

A Kentucky businessman pleaded guilty earlier this month to bribing Jefferson.

Louisville technology executive Vernon Jackson, who faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000, has agreed to help federal investigators as they examine Jefferson's dealings with Jackson's company, iGate Inc.

According to court records filed in the plea deal, Jefferson helped secure a deal with a Nigerian company called Netlink Digital Television and in return demanded payments to a company maintained in the name of his wife and children.

Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson aide, pleaded guilty in January to bribery charges for his role in the deal, and seven Jefferson staffers told the House in March they had been served with subpoenas.

(Additional reporting by JoAnne Allen)

Source: REUTERS

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