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New Allegations Emerge Against Jefferson
Federal prosecutors have filed papers accusing Rep. William J. Jefferson ,
D-La., of participating in two additional bribery schemes but do not plan
any new charges.
The court papers, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., by
U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg, says the additional information will be
introduced at Jefferson's trial to show a pattern of behavior that backs up
the existing charges against him.
Jefferson was indicted June 4 on 16 charges, including soliciting bribes,
racketeering, money laundering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud,
conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, allegedly
for attempts to influence a series of business ventures in Africa.
Federal prosecutors said Jefferson, a nine-term House member from New
Orleans, solicited an unidentified rocket technology and commercial launch
services company through a businessman to get commissions for a relative. In
return, Jefferson promised in June 2005 to undertake official acts,
including writing a letter to NASA, on the company's behalf, the government
said.
In July 2005, Jefferson, then head of the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation, wrote a letter on the foundation's letterhead to NASA on the
company's behalf, the filing said, adding that Jefferson's signature was
accompanied by the notation "M.C.," for member of Congress.
Jefferson also allegedly sought a $10,000-a-month retainer for another
family member through an unnamed lobbyist and a company identified as an
"established oil services company'&;#8217; that did business in Nigeria. It
was Jefferson's dealings in Nigeria that form the basis for the federal
indictment, which came after a two-year investigation.
Prosecutors said Jefferson and the lobbyist visited Nigeria in January 2002,
and the lobbyist later asked Jefferson to arrange meetings with high-ranking
Nigerian officials and big private oil companies doing business in the west
African nation to help promote the oil services company.
Jefferson agreed to the request but suggested that his relative be hired by
the company as a $10,000-a-month consultant, the government said. It added
that the lobbyist understood that in making that request Jefferson was
soliciting a bribe that "would be concealed through the use of a retainer
agreement.'&;#8217;
The filing said the new allegations were "inextricably intertwined'&;#8217;
with the evidence already laid out in the indictment. Two former Jefferson
associates have already pleaded guilty to bribing him, and an FBI affidavit
said agents found $90,000 in marked bills in Jefferson's freezer during a
2005 raid on his home.
Robert Trout, a lawyer for Jefferson, declined to comment Monday.
Perhaps the most serious charge against Jefferson, who was forced to give up
his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, was that he tried to bribe a
Nigerian official. That allegation marked the first time any U.S. official
has been charged under the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (PL 105-366),
according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Jefferson's criminal case has been complicated by a battle over the powers
of the legislative and executive branches of government. That issue arose
last year when the FBI raided the congressman's Rayburn Building office. A
federal judge ruled the raid was constitutional, dismissing a challenge from
House leaders.
But in August, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit ruled that much of the material the FBI seized
in the May 2006 raid was taken in violation of the Constitution's Speech or
Debate Clause. That clause was designed, in part, to protect legislative or
privileged documents.
The court ordered much of the seized material returned to Jefferson. Earlier
this month, the court turned aside the federal government's appeal of the
August ruling.
Federal prosecutors have filed papers accusing Rep. William J. Jefferson ,
D-La., of participating in two additional bribery schemes but do not plan
any new charges.
The court papers, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., by
U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg, says the additional information will be
introduced at Jefferson's trial to show a pattern of behavior that backs up
the existing charges against him.
Jefferson was indicted June 4 on 16 charges, including soliciting bribes,
racketeering, money laundering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud,
conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, allegedly
for attempts to influence a series of business ventures in Africa.
Federal prosecutors said Jefferson, a nine-term House member from New
Orleans, solicited an unidentified rocket technology and commercial launch
services company through a businessman to get commissions for a relative. In
return, Jefferson promised in June 2005 to undertake official acts,
including writing a letter to NASA, on the company's behalf, the government
said.
In July 2005, Jefferson, then head of the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation, wrote a letter on the foundation's letterhead to NASA on the
company's behalf, the filing said, adding that Jefferson's signature was
accompanied by the notation "M.C.," for member of Congress.
Jefferson also allegedly sought a $10,000-a-month retainer for another
family member through an unnamed lobbyist and a company identified as an
"established oil services company'&;#8217; that did business in Nigeria. It
was Jefferson's dealings in Nigeria that form the basis for the federal
indictment, which came after a two-year investigation.
Prosecutors said Jefferson and the lobbyist visited Nigeria in January 2002,
and the lobbyist later asked Jefferson to arrange meetings with high-ranking
Nigerian officials and big private oil companies doing business in the west
African nation to help promote the oil services company.
Jefferson agreed to the request but suggested that his relative be hired by
the company as a $10,000-a-month consultant, the government said. It added
that the lobbyist understood that in making that request Jefferson was
soliciting a bribe that "would be concealed through the use of a retainer
agreement.'&;#8217;
The filing said the new allegations were "inextricably intertwined'&;#8217;
with the evidence already laid out in the indictment. Two former Jefferson
associates have already pleaded guilty to bribing him, and an FBI affidavit
said agents found $90,000 in marked bills in Jefferson's freezer during a
2005 raid on his home.
Robert Trout, a lawyer for Jefferson, declined to comment Monday.
Perhaps the most serious charge against Jefferson, who was forced to give up
his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, was that he tried to bribe a
Nigerian official. That allegation marked the first time any U.S. official
has been charged under the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (PL 105-366),
according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Jefferson's criminal case has been complicated by a battle over the powers
of the legislative and executive branches of government. That issue arose
last year when the FBI raided the congressman's Rayburn Building office. A
federal judge ruled the raid was constitutional, dismissing a challenge from
House leaders.
But in August, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit ruled that much of the material the FBI seized
in the May 2006 raid was taken in violation of the Constitution's Speech or
Debate Clause. That clause was designed, in part, to protect legislative or
privileged documents.
The court ordered much of the seized material returned to Jefferson. Earlier
this month, the court turned aside the federal government's appeal of the
August ruling.