MAR Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Congressman Taped Taking $100,000, FBI Says According to Court Papers, He Hid Cash in Foil in Freezer By MATTHEW BARAKAT, AP ALEXANDRIA, Va. (May 22) - 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. 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,'" he told the businesswoman, who was wearing an FBI recording device. Jefferson 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. The new details about the case emerged after the FBI searched Jefferson's congressional office on Capitol Hill Saturday night and Sunday. The nearly 100-page affidavit for a search warrant, made public Sunday with large portions blacked out, spells out much of the evidence so far. The document includes excerpts of conversations between Jefferson and an unidentified business executive from northern Virginia. She agreed to wear a wire after she approached the FBI with complaints Jefferson and an associate had ripped her off in a business deal. Jefferson's lawyer, Robert Trout, said in a statement that the prosecutors' disclosure was "part of a public relations agenda and an attempt to embarrass Congressman Jefferson. The affidavit itself is just one side of the story which has not been tested in court." The affidavit says Jefferson is caught on videotape at the Ritz-Carlton as he takes a reddish-brown briefcase from the trunk of the informant's car, slips it into a cloth bag, puts the bag into his 1990 Lincoln Town Car and drives away. The $100 bills in the suitcase had the same serial numbers as those found in Jefferson's freezer. While the name of the intended recipient of the $100,000 is blacked out, other details in the affidavit indicate he is Abubakar Atiku, Nigeria's vice president. He owns a home in Potomac, Md., that authorities have searched as part of the Jefferson investigation. The Jefferson investigation has provided some cover for Republicans who have suffered black eyes in the investigations of current and former GOP lawmakers, including Tom DeLay of Texas, the former majority leader. Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, a Vietnam-era jetfighter ace, was sentenced in March to more than eight years in prison for accepting bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonysoprano Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 ha ha shame, if your going to steal dont get caught Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinksucks Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 i love our government! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 hmmm....I ment to write congressman..oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumPuncher Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Jefferson has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing. maybe they should charge the guy? When a normal person is caught red handed they go tothe lockup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardyHarHar Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 'All these damn notes we're writing to each other as if we're talking, as if the FBI is watching,'" irony's a bitch huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Durden Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 ......For spacious skies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunm Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 USA! USA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtydoses Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 and they wonder why we are all so fucked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smart Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 As usual, y'all missed the best angle of this entire story... allow me to enlighten you... Fifty reporters and 10 television cameras showed up yesterday afternoon to watch Jefferson give his account. Even the comedian Dave Chappelle, in the building for other purposes, stopped by to gather some material, signing autographs as he waited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeBee Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Who the fuck cares if he took a bribe, although my opinion is biased on the subject My city's mayor is in jail for accepting bribes and everyone still loves him. He went to jail before, came out and got re-elected...I'm sure he can do it again FREE BUDDY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AORAone Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 haha, i can only imagine what dave is going to do with those notes. pure gold im sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man with the Answers Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Who the fuck cares if he took a bribe, although my opinion is biased on the subject My city's mayor is in jail for accepting bribes and everyone still loves him. He went to jail before, came out and got re-elected...I'm sure he can do it again FREE BUDDY but Buddy is not a negroe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeBee Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Wait, wait, wait...this dudes black? That's a whole nother story, hang his ass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fondles Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 USA! USA! Corruption exists in every government, everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreck.One Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Wait' date=' wait, wait...this dudes black? That's a whole nother story, hang his ass[/quote'] funniest post so far.. but he is black and from Louisiana, what were we really expecting to happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!@#$% Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 probably nothing, same as whats going to happen to abramoff and delay if anything he'll have to go get a new career Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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