Democrat Jefferson's brother may be named in another bribe

NY Times:

The former president of the Orleans Parish School Board pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to taking $140,000 in bribes from a political operative thought to be the older brother of Representative William J. Jefferson, who has been indicted on bribery charges.

The operative is not named in court papers, and government lawyers have refused to identify the source of the bribes to the former schools president, Ellenese Brooks-Simms. But a person close to the investigation who asked not to be identified said it was Mose Jefferson, the congressman’s brother. Mr. Jefferson, also identified in local news reports as the one making the bribes, did not return phone calls.

Mose Jefferson has been one of the congressman’s chief strategists for more than two decades, a hardball-playing organizer of his campaigns, according to local consultants, and a discreet but powerful presence in one of New Orleans’ ruling political families.

Though not named in the unrelated bribery and racketeering indictment of the congressman, a person identified as “Family Member 2,” and fitting Mose Jefferson’s description, is a fixture in the indictment’s 96 pages. Repeatedly, the congressman pressed companies he is accused of assisting into giving “Family Member 2” a part of their proceeds, according to the indictment.

Those deals involved companies seeking business in Africa, Mr. Jefferson’s role in procuring it, and trips back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean. Wednesday’s guilty plea touched on more parochial matters: a bribe to ensure an educational software company received a lucrative contract from the Orleans Parish School Board.

The head of the company, John Lee, confirmed to The New Orleans Times-Picayune that he had hired Mose Jefferson as a consultant. The indictment said the unnamed briber, identified only as “Mr. A” by the government, had received more than $900,000 from the software company and had kicked back the $140,000 to Ms. Brooks-Sims. Mr. Lee did not return calls Wednesday.

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Is Mose "Mr. A"? Is Mose "Family Member 2"? Is Mose a Democrat? The NY Times story strongly suggest the answer to the first two questions is yes. As to party affiliation, the story does not say but I think the culture of corruption in New Orleans is primarily with the Democrat party and we know from other sources that William Jefferson is a Democrat.