Friday, October 27, 2006

US - Disgraced Jefferson basks in Louisiana's affection

I love some of the comments here.

If Jefferson was a Republican this scandal would be front page news till after the elections.

For the record, Jefferson, 59, has denied bribery allegations stemming from $90,000 in [FBI] marked $100 bills found in his freezer. He's known as a Bible-quoting Baptist who abstains from alcohol and tobacco.


But Jefferson refuses to say how $90K in marked FBI $100 bills wound up in his freezer.

You have to read down further to get more of the story.

Jefferson's latest money trouble stems from allegations in an FBI affidavit that he accepted $100,000 in cash in 2005 from an FBI informant in a scheme to bribe Nigerian telecommunications officials. All but $10,000 of the cash was found four days later [wrapped in tin foil] in the freezer of his Washington home, the FBI said.

Two of Jefferson's associates pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges; one, a Kentucky businessman, admitted paying more than $400,000 in bribes to a phony company headed by Jefferson's wife and family to obtain favors from the congressman.



Jefferson's corruption is limited to bribery.

But he was criticized because his law firm took lucrative contracts from Southern University and the attorney general's office while he served in the state Senate. But no punitive action was taken.

Questions lingered. Records show Jefferson defaulted on loans and was sued for poor maintenance of his extensive real estate holdings. He also overdrew the bank account of his congressional office, which Jefferson attributed to sloppy bookkeeping.


This is priceless:

"Who knows what goes on in your house? Nobody tells me where to put my dollars. If I to want to carry them in my pocket, if I want to carry in my sock, that's my business," said Helen Lang, the president of the Section 8 Resident Council, a community group that has endorsed Jefferson.


Well Helen, there's the rub, eh? It wasn't Jefferson's money to carry in his sock or wrap in tin foil and stash in his freezer. It was marked FBI money given to Jefferson by an undercover FBI informant.

No wonder Democrats have silently dropped Jefferson.

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