A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.
At one audiotaped meeting, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company's deal for work in Africa.
As Jefferson and the informant passed notes about what percentage the lawmaker's family might receive, the congressman "began laughing and said, 'All these damn notes we're writing to each other as if we're talking, as if the FBI is watching,'" according to the affidavit.
Jefferson, who represents New Orleans, has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.
As for the $100,000, the government says Jefferson got the money in a leather briefcase last July 30 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington. The plan was for the lawmaker to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official _ the name is blacked out in the court document _ to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the affidavit said.
All but $10,000 was recovered on Aug. 3 when the FBI searched Jefferson's home in Washington. The money was stuffed in his freezer, wrapped in $10,000 packs and concealed in food containers and aluminum foil.
Two of Jefferson's associates have pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges in federal court in Alexandria. One, businessman Vernon Jackson of Louisville, Ky., admitted paying more than $400,000 in bribes to the lawmaker in exchange for his help securing business deals for Jackson's telecommunications company in Nigeria and other African countries.
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Why would lawmakers be concerned about FBI raiding congressional offices with a court order... unless they are concerned about a) Privledge, b) Wrongdoing, c) Both.
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FBI Raid Angers Some on Hill
Mon May 22 2006 10:00:41 ET
Saturday night’s FBI raid on the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) surprised and angered House officials, who were not told that the Rayburn House Office Building search was to take place until one hour beforehand, offering the latest sign that federal prosecutors are using increasingly aggressive tactics in their pursuit of allegedly corrupt lawmakers.
This is believed to be the first-ever FBI raid on a Congressional office, ROLL CALL reports.
Documents filed in support of the search show that the Justice Department is assembling a wide-ranging case against the veteran Democratic lawmaker.
At this time, Jefferson is being investigated for bribery, wire fraud, bribery of a foreign official and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the search warrant.
But the Justice Department and FBI agents are also looking at “least seven other schemes in which Congressman Jefferson sought things of value” in return for official acts, the affidavit states.
That suggests that additional avenues for prosecuting Jefferson could be revealed soon. The FBI has two confidential witnesses who are offering testimony against Jefferson, as well as undercover audio and video tapes of him allegedly asking for and receiving bribes worth potentially millions of dollars in exchange for his help in putting together African telecommunications deals for U.S. firms, according to the affidavit.
On one videotape, the FBI filmed Jefferson allegedly receiving $100,000 in cash from one of their cooperating witnesses. Most of the money was later recovered in a raid of Jefferson¹s home, reports ROLL CALL's John Bresnahan.
Jefferson and his family members allegedly received payments from both sides of the telecom deals, with money coming from the American and Nigerian firms through companies controlled by the Jeffersons, his two brothers and son-in-law, according to the FBI affidavit.
Developing...
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The plan was for the lawmaker to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official _ the name is blacked out in the court document _ to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the affidavit said.
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Hey, wonder if it's the same guy wants to buy a laptop on ebay??!!?? No, wait, it's the guy who needs to move a large sum of money to an American bank.
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Thanks to PocketBrain for bringing the parrot to life!! :)
The Inside Story of FBI's Historic Raid on Capitol Hill
May 22, 2006 1:41 PM
Brian Ross Reports:
The FBI's raid on the office of Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) was the first such raid on Capitol Hill in history and came about only after lawyers for the House of Representatives refused to turn over the material the FBI sought, according to officials familiar with the case.
At the request of the FBI, the House General Counsel's office had secured copies of the documents and computer files being sought in the bribery investigation from Jefferson's office.
But officials say the House lawyers then refused to turn over the documents to the FBI.
The refusal by the House Counsel led the FBI to seek a search warrant from Judge Thomas Hogan to send agents into Jefferson's Rayburn Building office, room 2113, according to officials.
"Left with no other method, the government is proceeding in this fashion," states the search warrant application filed by FBI agent Timothy Thibault.
The warrant was issued by Judge Hogan last Thursday and instructed Capitol Hill police "to provide immediate access" to Jefferson's office.
FBI agents went into the building around 7:15 Saturday night. Officials say the agents used a special team "to minimize the likelihood that any potentially politically sensitive" items were removed.
In a statement today, Jefferson's lawyer called the FBI action "outrageous."
There was no immediate comment from the House General Counsel.
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Congressman Tried to Hide Papers, Justice Dept. Says
Court Filing in Response to Jefferson Lawsuit Defends Raid
By Allan Lengel and Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; A04
The Justice Department yesterday vigorously defended the recent weekend raid of Rep. William J. Jefferson's Capitol Hill office as part of a bribery investigation, asserting that the Democratic lawmaker attempted to hide documents from FBI agents while they were searching his New Orleans home last August.
The government questioned in a 34-page motion filed in U.S. District Court here whether it could have obtained all the materials it had sought in a subpoena if it had not launched the surprise raid on Jefferson's congressional office May 20. According to the government filing, an FBI agent caught Jefferson slipping documents into a blue bag in the living room of his New Orleans home during a search.
"It is my belief that when Congressman Jefferson placed documents into the blue bag, he was attempting to conceal documents that were relevant to the investigation," FBI agent Stacey E. Kent of New Orleans stated in an affidavit that was part of the government's court submission. The document was filed in response to Jefferson's lawsuit demanding that the government return to him documents seized during the raid on his Capitol Hill office 11 days ago.
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Last Aug. 3, FBI agents searched Jefferson's New Orleans home while the congressman and family members were present. Kent said she was assigned to watch Jefferson and his family during the search, according to her affidavit accompanying the government motion yesterday.
She said she observed him looking at several pieces of paper on a table. At one point, she said, he asked to see a copy of the subpoena.
"After a copy had been brought to him and he reviewed it, I observed Congressman Jefferson then take the subpoena and the documents he had been reading earlier and place them together under his elbow on the kitchen table."
At one point, she said, he moved to the living room, which had just been searched, and sat on a recliner. While sitting, he slipped the subpoena and the documents into a blue bag that he knew had already been searched, Kent's affidavit said.
"After several minutes, I approached Congressman Jefferson and told him that I needed to look at the documents that he had placed into the bag," the agent stated. "Congressman Jefferson told me the documents were subpoenas."
He finally pulled out the documents that were from a B.K. Son. The search warrant had asked for all communications between Jefferson and Son, the affidavit said. Son is the chief technology officer of iGate.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday upheld the FBI's unprecedented raid of a congressional office, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."
Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan rejected requests from lawmakers and Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office.
The overnight search was part of a 17-month bribery investigation of Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat.
In a 28-page opinion, Hogan dismissed arguments by Jefferson and a bipartisan group of House leaders that the raid violated the Constitution's protections against intimidation of elected officials.
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"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams
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I don't honestly intend to turn this into a heated debate, but seriously, for every corrupt democratic congressperson (oh wait, they all are...) there are at least 3 corrupt republicans (again, they all are...) I think I just killed my point, so ignore me.
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No, wait, it's the guy who needs to move a large sum of money to an American bank. 
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