Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., is seen on his way to a vote on Capitol Hill, Thursday, May 18, 2006. The House Ethics Committee announced Wednesday that the committee would look into possible rules violations by Jefferson and Ohio Republican Bob Ney. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
FBI agents load the back of a minivan at the Rayburn House Office Building 'horseshoe' entrance Sunday, May 21, 2006, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Beginning Saturday evening, May 20, 2006, agents from the FBI searched the congressional offices of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke
ALEXANDRIA, Va. May 22, 2006 (AP)— Allegedly scamming a Virginia businesswoman could prove to be a major mistake for a Democratic congressman from New Orleans.
The FBI revealed Sunday that Rep. William Jefferson, under investigation for bribery, was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer, according to a court document released Sunday.
At one meeting captured on audiotape, Jefferson 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.
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