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William Jennings Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. A Democrat, Jefferson has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1991, representing Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He is Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction.[1]
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Jefferson is currently being investigated by the FBI in connection with a corruption scandal. An FBI raid of his offices–believed to be the first FBI raid on a congressional office ever–sparked controversy over separation of powers and the rights of Congress. In response to these allegations, the House Democratic Caucus voted to present a proposal for Jefferson's removal from the Ways and Means Committee to the full House, which then removed Jefferson from the committee.
Jefferson was born in Lake Providence, a small town in northeastern Louisiana, where he and his eight brothers and sisters worked alongside their father, who was a sharecropper and a heavy-equipment operator for the Army Corps of Engineers.
Though neither of his parents had graduated from high school, Jefferson graduated from G.W. Griffin High School in Lake Providence and received a bachelor's degree from Southern University, where in 1969 he led a protest against substandard campus facilities and negotiated with then-Governor John McKeithen. He later earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1972. After graduation, he became a law clerk for Judge Alvin B. Rubin of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1972 to 1973, and a lawyer with a private practice. From 1973 to 1975, he was a legislative assistant to Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana. He moved to New Orleans in 1976 and was elected as a member of the Louisiana Senate in 1980, where he served until 1991. He twice unsuccessfully ran for New Orleans mayor, first challenging Ernest N. Morial in the election of 1982, and then being defeated by Sidney Barthelemy in the mayoral runoff of 1986.[2] In 1990 William Jefferson was elected to the House, becoming the first black member of Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction. In the House, Jefferson joined the Congressional Black Caucus.[3]
William Jefferson will face Republican Joe Lavigne in the 2006 mid-term election.
William Jefferson has been under investigation by the FBI for suspected corruption since March 2005; since that time, he has been named in the two guilty pleas of associates. On May 15, 2006, Jefferson called a press conference at which he announced that he did not intend to resign despite expecting to be indicted on corruption charges. On May 20, 2006, William Jefferson's Congressional offices were searched by the FBI, "believed to be the first-ever FBI raid on a Congressional office" [4], raising concerns that it could "set a dangerous precedent that could be used by future administrations to intimidate or harass a supposedly coequal branch of the government"[5]. See below.
An investigation of Congressman William Jefferson by various agencies began in mid-2005, after an investor came to authorities. Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat-Louisiana, is alleged to have received over $400,000 in bribes through a company maintained in the name of his spouse and children. The money came from a tech company named iGate, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, and in return, it is alleged, Jefferson would help iGate's business. Jefferson was to persuade the U.S. Army to test iGate's broadband two-way technology and other iGate products; use his efforts to influence, possibly through bribery, high-ranking officials in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon; and meet with personnel of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, in order to facilitate potential financing for iGate business deals in those countries.[6].
FBI investigation of alleged bribery and fraud
On July 30, 2005, Jefferson was videotaped by the FBI allegedly receiving $100,000 worth of 100 dollar bills in a leather briefcase at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington, Virginia.[7] Conressman William Jefferson told an investor, Lori Mody, who was wearing a wire, that he would need to give Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar $500,000 "as a motivating factor" to make sure they obtained contracts for iGate and Mody's company in Nigeria.[8] A few days later, on August 3, 2005, FBI agents raided the home of Congressman William Jefferson in Northeast Washington and, as noted in an 83-page affidavit filed to support a subsequent raid on his Congressional office, "found $90,000 of the cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers." Serial numbers found on the currency in the freezer matched serial numbers of funds given by the FBI to their informant.
Late in the night of May 20, 2006, FBI agents executed a search warrant [9] at the office of Congressman William Jefferson in the Rayburn House Office Building.
The affidavit used to support these raids included, among other allegations:
- The FBI videotaped Congressman William Jefferson receiving a stock certificate from Mody for a company set up in Nigeria to promote iGate's technology. Jefferson predicted the deal would generate $200 million annually after five years.
- Jefferson, , told Mody that he wanted a similar financial stake in the business in Ghana.
- Jefferson, , sought $10 million in financing from Mody to take over iGate and install "confidants" on the new board. In two payments, Mody wired $89,225 to the ANJ Group LLC, a company controlled by Jefferson's family.
- Jefferson, lent $4,800 of the money Mody gave him to an unnamed congressional aide. Another $4,900 was given back to the FBI by one of Jefferson's attorneys.
- The FBI claims it has uncovered "at least seven other schemes in which Jefferson sought things of value in return for his official acts." [10]
Former aides plead guilty
In January 2006, Brett M. Pfeffer, a former aide to Congressman William Jefferson, implicated him in a corruption scheme involving an Internet company being set up in Nigeria. Pfeffer was president of an investment company in McLean, Virginia. In return for political support for the deal, Congressman William Jefferson had legal work directed toward his family's operations. It was also said that a daughter of his was put on retainer of the Virginia investment company to the tune of $5,000 a month. Jefferson also is said to have arranged for his family a 5% to 7% ownership stake in the Nigerian Internet company. Pfeffer pled guilty to charges of aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy on January 11, 2006 in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.[11] On May 26, he was sentenced to eight years, but was "cooperating in an ongoing probe and may be eligible for a sentence reduction afterward", according to a prosecutor. [12]
On May 3, 2006 Vernon Jackson, 53, CEO of Louisville, Kentucky based iGate Inc., admitted to bribery of a public official and conspiracy to bribe a public official during a plea hearing in U.S. District Court. According to the Associated Press, "court documents make clear that Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) is the accused congressman, without naming him." Jackson's plea bargain requires his cooperation in the ongoing investigation against the congressman he admits bribing. The total amount of the bribes is between $400,000 and $1 million, according to court documents of the Jackson proceeding.[13]
Congressional office raid
The May 20 raid of Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) office in Room 2113 of the Rayburn House Office Building set off a series of political events. Jefferson immediately challenged the action in federal court, and members of the House generally reacted strongly against the raid. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued "a rare joint statement demanding that the FBI return the documents and saying that Jefferson then should cooperate more fully with the investigation." [14]. "Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government that are meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation." [15] Tensions escalated to the point where, according to AP, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, his deputy, Paul McNulty, and possibly FBI Director Robert Mueller "were said to be ready to quit if the Justice Department was asked to return the Jefferson documents...[while the] House was threatening to go after the Justice Department's budget." [16]
On May 25, President Bush stepped in, taking the extraordinary step of "directing the Department of Justice to seal all the materials recovered from Congressman William Jefferson's (Democrat-Louisiana) office for the next 45 days and not to allow access to anyone involved in the investigation." [17]
While members of the Senate, however, seemed to take a more measured view of the raid, [18] On May 30, 2006, Representative James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee began to hold hearings, called "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?", on the "profoundly disturbing" questions that he said the Justice Department's actions have raised.
The FBI, in answering Congressman William Jefferson's complaint of the raid, attached an FBI agent's affidavit claiming that the raid was necessary because while the FBI was searching his home in August, Jefferson tried to "surreptitiously remove" documents. [19]
An ABC News poll released June 1 2006 found 86% of Americans supported the FBI's right to search congressional offices when they obtain a warrant. [20]
On July 10, 2006, Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled the FBI raid on Jefferson's office was legal, rejecting his and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the Unites States House of Representatives claim that the search violated the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, separation of powers principle and Fourth Amendment. Chief Judge Hogan, in a 28-page ruling, acknowleged that the "facts and questions of law presented here are indeed unprecedented," but wrote that it is "well-established" that a Congressman is "generally bound to the operation of the criminal laws as are ordinary persons," and the Speech or Debate Clause does not "make Members of Congress super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility.'"[21] Hogan, in his conclusion, wrote:
- "The existing broad protections of the Speech or Debate Clause – absolute immunity from prosecution or suit for legislative acts and freedom from being 'questioned' about those acts (including privilege from the testimonial act of producing documents in response to a subpoena) – satisfy the fundamental purpose of the Clause to protect the independence of the legislature. The Court declines to extend those protections further, holding that the Speech or Debate Clause does not shield Members of Congress from the execution of valid search warrants. Congressman Jefferson's interpretation of the Speech or Debate privilege would have the effect of converting every congressional office into a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime. Such a result is not supported by the Constitution or judicial precedent and will not be adopted here. See Williamson v. United States, 28 S. Ct. at 167 ('[T]he laws of this country allow no place or employment as a sanctuary for crime.') (quotation omitted).[22]
Stripped of Committee Membership
On May 24, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi publicly requested his immediate resignation from the House Ways and Means Committee; he declined to do so.[23] Although Mel Watt, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus declared the strong support of the caucus for Jefferson it has since been reported that two prominent members of the caucus, John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) have played a major role in the capaign to force Jefferson to step down[24].
On June 15th, 2006, House Democrats voted to strip Jefferson of his committee assignment while the federal bribery investigation continues. Members approved the move after Jefferson repeatedly refused to step aside. Despite claims of the Congressional Black Caucus that Jefferson was being treated unfairly, the vote passed 99-58. Some have reported that the vote was passed as a result of Democrats who are determined to make an election-year point about ethics. The full House, which is the only group with the power to actually remove Jefferson, then stripped him of his seat on June 16th in a voice vote without debate. Jefferson had offered to step aside temporarily if the Democratic caucus established a rule concerning cases like his and if his seat went to Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA). This offer was rejected by House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi.[25]
On Saturday, June 17, 2006, House Democratic Leader Pelosi delivered the Saturday Radio Address for the Democrats. Ethical conduct of Representatives in Washington was not mentioned.[26]
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