Tape Shows Lawmaker (Congressman) Taking Money (D-La)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — 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.

http://www.bayoubuzz.com

Letter from William Jefferson:

My attorneys tell me that it is not in my best interest to speak about the criminal investigation at this time. But I feel compelled to make a statement because I believe that my constituents are entitled to hear some response to the spate of recent publicity about me, and I have an obligation to think about your interests, as well.

Over the past nine months, my family and I have had to endure the hell of a federal criminal investigation. I have hoped that the government would come to understand that the actions under scrutiny were not illegal. Unfortunately, the government seems inclined to view the facts in the worst possible light, and to characterize events that could be explained, or are exculpatory, in ways that tend to incriminate. In the end, I fear, the ends of justice are not served by this approach.

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.

Some of our friends have succumbed to the enormous pressure that the government has brought to bear, and in order to protect themselves, they have now characterized their relationship with me, or my family, in ways that fit neatly within the government´s mistaken legal theories. This saddens me greatly, since these were people whom my family and I respected and with whom we enjoyed warm, personal relationships. Our support for them grew out of these relationships, not out of any agreements to use my official position in exchange for some monetary benefit. Our friendship and loyalty have been betrayed, and we fear that the truth has been compromised in the process. We pray that God will forgive them.

It will be only through a tortuous process that my family and I will be able to re-establish the truth. In this, we ask for the patience, if not the support, of the public. Indeed, when I began serving in Congress, there were two Congressmen, who happened to be African American, then serving in Congress under indictment by Federal prosecutors - Rep. Harold Ford, Sr. of Tennessee and Rep. Floyd Flake of New York. It took each of them over six years to establish their innocence. But in the end, they and their family members were found not guilty. They stayed in Congress and continued to do their jobs with the support of their people, as I am now continuing to deliver for the people of the district that I have been privileged to represent for nearly 16 years.

More recently, Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Diaz had the unfortunate experience of having his former wife plead guilty to some charge and testify against him. Nonetheless, he was found not guilty by a jury of his peers.

I therefore have not come here to announce my resignation. Far from it: I have come to declare, among other things, my continued intention to serve.

No one wants to be indicted. I certainly do not and I certainly do not want anyone - a family member or close associate - to be indicted. But I am prepared to answer these charges formally when and if the time comes. Unfortunately, as we await that day, there have been selective leaks of what is supposed to be confidential information from unidentified "law enforcement sources." Therefore, I ask the government to refrain from this process of death by a thousand cuts that generates salacious headlines and bad press for my family and to make no further public disclosures until it decides to close the matter and leave my family alone or to indict me and give me a reasonable opportunity to prepare my defense.

I would take full responsibility for any crimes that I committed if that were the case. But I will not plead guilty to something I did not do, no matter how things are made to look and no matter the risks. My family has insisted that I take this position, even if it causes additional repercussions or discomfort for them. As a family, we trust God to see us through.

So today, I am not afraid, but rather, at peace. I apologize to you, the public, my constituents, for the predicament we are now enduring together. But when you elected me, you knew I would fight for the underdog, fight for the right. This is not always without risks.

Thank you and I pray for your patience, understanding, prayers and support.

Wait a minute, this isnt the same money he diverted the National Guard to his house for, is it?

I think you are onto something. This may be why he was in such a big hurry to have the National Guard get him to his house (and his freezer).

This just keeps getting better.

Wrong house, wrong freezer. Jefferson's house [in Arlington, VA IIRC] was raided several weeks before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. That is where they found the "cold hard cash" in the freezer.
The Jefferson/National Guard thing was widely reported and remarked upon here on FR ... but, so far, there is no indication of what the numerous items were, including a box "the size of a small refrigerator", that were retrieved by Jefferson with his National Guard escort.
Stay tuned.

It will be only through a tortuous process that my family and I will be able to re-establish the truth. In this, we ask for the patience, if not the support, of the public. Indeed, when I began serving in Congress, there were two Congressmen, who happened to be African American, then serving in Congress under indictment by Federal prosecutors - Rep. Harold Ford, Sr. of Tennessee and Rep. Floyd Flake of New York. It took each of them over six years to establish their innocence. But in the end, they and their family members were found not guilty. They stayed in Congress and continued to do their jobs with the support of their people, as I am now continuing to deliver for the people of the district that I have been privileged to represent for nearly 16 years.

Ahh, there's the race card. And I can't think of any way to characterize a couple hundred thousand dollars hidden in a freezer in any way other than as an attempt to hide a bribe.

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