U.S. indicts Rep. Jefferson - Corruption probe snags Louisiana lawmaker

U.S. indicts Rep. Jefferson - Corruption probe snags Louisiana lawmaker
By Richard B. Schmitt and Ann Simmons,
Copyright © 2007, Chicago TribuneTribune and The Los Angeles Times
Published June 5, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) was indicted Monday for allegedly using his congressional office to enrich himself and his family through a pervasive pattern of fraud, bribery and corruption that spanned five years and two continents.

The charges -- the first against a Democratic member of Congress in the wake of the Justice Department's recent crackdown on public corruption -- follow a two year-investigation that gained national notoriety when FBI agents raided Jefferson's home and found $90,000 in cash stuffed in his freezer.

The case also sparked a constitutional furor after the FBI in May 2006 seized documents and e-mails during a raid on Jefferson's Capitol Hill offices. In a lawsuit, Jefferson has said the raid violated his rights under the principle of separation of powers in the Constitution; the case is pending before a federal appeals court.

Monday's 16-count indictment, including allegations of money laundering, bribery and racketeering, contain the first charges ever brought against a U.S. official for allegedly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, enacted 30 years ago to combat bribery of foreign officials by American corporations.

In the sweeping 94-page indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., Jefferson is charged with soliciting millions of dollars in fees and company stock in exchange for using his office to promote wide-ranging business interests in West Africa, including a telecommunications start-up, an oil exploration company and a waste recycling firm.

He allegedly negotiated one deal in a congressional dining room on Capitol Hill and took official trips abroad to promote ventures in which he or his family had a financial stake without disclosing the true intention of the travel on congressional disclosure forms. According to the indictment, the trips were designed to "give the false impression that defendant Jefferson was merely acting as an impartial public servant promoting United States business interests abroad."

Jefferson, 60, a member of Congress since 1990, is expected to enter a plea of not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

Addressing the media outside his Los Angeles office, Jefferson's lawyer, Robert Trout said that "Congressman Jefferson is innocent" and "he plans to fight this indictment and clear his name."

Trout said the Justice Department had inspected every aspect of Jefferson's public and private life, and he accused federal agents of contriving "to trap" him in a government sting. Federal agents have searched Jefferson's home and car and raided his congressional office.

The charges against the nine-term congressman, whose district includes New Orleans, present a dilemma for Democrats who rode to power last November on a promise of changing the "culture of corruption" in Washington.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the charges "extremely serious" and would constitute "an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power" if proven true.

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the House GOP leader, said Jefferson should be expelled from Congress if he is found guilty and refuses to resign.

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Pelosi likely to seek ouster from panel Monday's indictment doesn't affect Rep. William Jefferson's membership in Congress. He was re-elected last year amid the investigation.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to push this week for Jefferson to be stripped of his seat on the Small Business Committee, a leadership aide told The Associated Press.