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Nah, I'm sure most folks assumed he had already been indicted.
Thanks for the drive-by though. Your gargantuan contribution to the discourse here is woefully underappreciated.
Link
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long- running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.
The indictment handed up in federal court in Alexandria., Va., Monday is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years. He is charged with racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Jefferson is accused of soliciting bribes for himself and his family, and also for bribing a Nigerian official.
Almost two years ago, in August 2005, investigators raided Jefferson's home in Louisiana and found $90,000 in cash stuffed into a box in his freezer.
Jefferson, 63, whose Louisiana district includes New Orleans, has said little about the case publicly but has maintained his innocence. He was re-elected last year despite the looming investigation.
Jefferson, in Louisiana on Monday, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Two of Jefferson's associates have already struck plea bargains with prosecutors and have been sentenced.
Brett Pfeffer, a former congressional aide, admitted soliciting bribes on Jefferson's behalf and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Another Jefferson associate, Louisville, Ky., telecommunications executive Vernon Jackson, pleaded guilty to paying between $400,000 and $1 million in bribes to Jefferson in exchange for his assistance securing business deals in Nigeria and other African nations. Jackson was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Both Pfeffer and Jackson agreed to cooperate in the case against Jefferson in exchanges for their pleas.
The impact of the case has stretched across continents and even roiled presidential politics in Nigeria. According to court records, Jefferson told associates that he needed cash to pay bribes to the country's vice president, Atiku Abubakar.
Abubakar denied the allegations, which figured prominently in that country's presidential elections in April. Abubakar ran for the presidency and finished third.
The indictment does not name Abubakar. But it describes Jefferson's dealings with an unnamed "Nigerian Official A" who was a high-ranking official in Nigeria's executive branch who had a spouse in Potomac, Md. One of Abubakar's wives lived in that Washington suburb.
Court records indicate that Jefferson was videotape taking a $100,000 cash bribe from an FBI informant. Most of that money later turned up in a freezer in Jefferson's home.
In May 2006, the FBI raided Jefferson's congressional office, the first such raid on a sitting congressman's Capitol office. That move sparked a cons utional debate over whether the executive branch stepped over its boundary.
The legality of the raid is still being argued on appeal. House leaders objected to the search saying it was an uncons utional intrusion on the lawmaking process. The FBI said the raid was necessary because Jefferson and his legal team had failed to respond to requests for do ents.
Some but not all the do ents seized in the raid have been turned over Justice Department prosecutors.
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I was amazed that with all the new topics being made this morning, this wasn't among them.
Maybe he has the wrong letter by his name to merit a thread.
Nah, I'm sure most folks assumed he had already been indicted.
Thanks for the drive-by though. Your gargantuan contribution to the discourse here is woefully underappreciated.
We understand Chump. He is more than likely your most
favorite Congressman. I'm sure the dimm-o-craps will keep
him close to the action. He is from NO and they are still in
dire straits.
It's not liberals hidding the indictment of another Abramoff crony. We want this investigation.
Absolutely not.We understand Chump. He is more than likely your most favorite Congressman.What does that even mean?I'm sure the dimm-o-craps will keep him close to the action.He's going to jail and rightly so.He is from NO and they are still in dire straits.
(shrugs)
Give him the same trial that everybody should get. If found guilty, then put him in jail.
I had.
I remember this story from months ago about the cash, and thought it was already at the trial stage.
Knowing only about the $90,000 in cash found at his home, I would think that it won't be too hard to get a conviction.
The reason they didn't charge him this time last year was because he threatened to sing about a lot of both parties most treasured money laundering scams. If anyone is wondering why they didn't rush a show trial of a corrupt Democrat to coincide with the very important 2006 election, that is why.
If they're charging him now, it's because they've made him an offer he can't refuse and his lips will be sealed.
^^90 grand in a freezer is money laundering? Hmmmmm.
Guess so, cold cash.
Let's remove Jefferson from Congress.. very simple.
It's funny...
when Democrats are struck with corruption the party wants them brought to justice.
when Republicans are struck with corruption the party tries to hide the truth and lie to keep them in power
Isn't that backwards?
Are you delusional, or just been sleeping the past 7 years?
DR you obviously have. Which party has the rule of removing
any of their party from power even if indicted. It ant the
dimm-o-craps.
Yes, it is.
deleted misread a response.
There was no 109th Congress...This isn't the corruption you're looking for...You can go about your business...
This will be swept under the rug and not talked about for two reasons...it involves a Democrat and it involves Africa.
who will do the sweeping?
The media.
For instance, while Dan is clearly not the media (thank God), he starts probably a dozen threads a day focused on attacking the right. This happens, and where is his thread?
but didn't the "media" inform the OP that Jefferson was indicted? That's not a good start to the sweep job.
Watch over the next couple of weeks to see how much news this gets.
Not much will be reported over the next few weeks because nothing much will happen over the next few weeks. After the initial "newsworthiness" of the indictment wears off, I expect to hear nothing at all about this case for several months until this thing actually goes to trial.
Ok, then watch over the next several months then.
About as much as Duke Cunningham got, I imagine.
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