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By Vladimir Posted in $90000 | Congress | IN HIS FREEZER!! | William Jefferson — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

U.S. Representative William Jefferson, (D-LA2), is expected to testify in a hearing today on the admissibility of a mountain of evidence in his Federal bribery and corruption trial.

The central issue is whether the the court should allow evidence that was gathered during an early morning interview at Jefferson's home. The FBI says it was a conversation, their standard MO for gathering evidence in such a case. They say Jefferson willingly gave up the name of lobbyist James Creaghan, who has become a central figure and key government witness in the case.

Jefferson claims he was, in effect, under arrest during the interview. The Harvard Law graduate and former practicing attorney claims any evidence gathered is inadmissible because he was not advised of his Miranda rights.

Jefferson Angry at Prosecutors' Reference to Family Members

But, but, but...

In pretrial legal wrangling that has stretched over two days, prosecutors have repeatedly referenced business contracts and bank records bearing the names of Jefferson's wife, Andrea; his brother, Mose; and son-in-law Philip Jones as well as others, including his daughters.

All are portrayed in the 16-count indictment against Jefferson as supporting players in a raft of illegal business schemes to cash in on the veteran lawmaker's connections in Africa and his influence in Congress. None has been indicted in the nearly three-year-old investigation.

[snip]

Although Jefferson is the only member of his family who has been charged, the government contends that he was the leading figure in a series of bribery schemes involving his extended family.

The FBI says it found documents at his home that show his wife, son-in-law and brother all signed contracts with companies that Jefferson promised to help or did help by taking trips abroad to meet with representatives of foreign governments, writing letters or meeting with U.S. government agencies, notably the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Bank records for Andrea Jefferson's company, ANJ Group, show numerous $7,500 payments from iGate Inc., a Kentucky telecommunications firm Jefferson was promoting in Nigeria. Other documents show payments by Arkel Sugar to Mose Jefferson for more than $20,000. Jefferson, the government says, promoted Arkel to high-ranking members of the Nigerian government. The FBI also found a contract between Jones and an energy company Jefferson was aiding.

As Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Duross sought to establish a legitimate basis for the search of Jefferson's home, he repeatedly invoked the names of Jefferson's family members and the role they played in the alleged schemes.

"Sometimes they would move money to other people's accounts to pay for such things as law school," Duross told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. Several of Jefferson's five daughters attended law school [the better to enter the family's active shakedown racket consulting practice -- ed.].

Special Agent Tim Thibault, who led the investigation, has said Jefferson's method of operation was to use "nominee companies" set up in the name of his family members to funnel bribes into his own pocket in an attempt to skirt federal bribery laws.

Jefferson noted in comments afterward that his daughters are highly educated professionals with degrees from major universities, and he called son-in-law Jones a "six-year Ph.D. in environmental chemistry," to underscore their qualifications for the contracts they secured or companies they were put in charge of.

He said there was "zero truth" to the government's allegations about his family.

Jefferson has never denied that he was deeply involved in a host of business ventures in West Africa. But he said his actions don't amount to bribery because he didn't carry out "official acts" as a member of Congress to further the deals or enrich himself.

One aspect of the case he has never explained is the $90,000 in cash the FBI found in the freezer of his Capitol Hill townhouse. He had been handed the money by a government informant several days earlier and it was, the FBI says, intended as a bribe for the vice president of Nigeria.

[emphasis/snark added]