Cold cash Jefferson trial starts Tuesday

Washington Post:

The bribery and fraud case of former U.S. representative William J. Jefferson involves business ventures in seven West African nations, 16 criminal counts and a high-stakes legal battle over the raid of his Washington office. But when the trial begins Tuesday in Alexandria federal court, the case will be summed up to jurors with this key question: "Do you know the case of the congressman with the money in the freezer?"

After nine terms in office, the Louisiana Democrat is most known for the $90,000 that federal officers found wrapped in aluminum foil and tucked inside frozen food containers in his Capitol Hill home.

Jurors are expected to determine whether the congressman was using his freezer as an alternative to a bank, akin to stuffing lawful money under his mattress, or whether he was the mastermind behind a botched scheme to bribe the vice president of Nigeria.

Jefferson, 62, has told reporters that he has an "honest explanation" for the cold cash, but he has yet to offer details. The investigation has led to two of Jefferson's business associates, including a former aide, pleading guilty to bribery.

...

The search of Jefferson's home in 2005 capped an investigation in which federal officials gathered e-mails, documents, faxes and conversations with an FBI informant who wore a recording device. Charging documents say the informant, Virginia businesswoman Lori Mody, who was participating in a sting operation, handed Jefferson $100,000, which he said he would give to then-Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a bribe to facilitate a business deal. Most of the marked bills ended up in his freezer, federal agents said.

...

Assuming the informant was wired it makes an explanation for cash in the freezer that much more difficult. One of the underlying currents in this story should be the Democrat culture of corruption and the on going Murtha investigation as well as Murtha associates. While Jefferson may not have the finesse of Murtha the funny business of both is an ethics problem for Democrats.

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