Lawmaker decries search of D.C. office
Posted: May 22nd, '06, 20:31
Lawmaker decries search of D.C. office
Louisiana's Jefferson maintains innocence in bribery probe
Monday, May 22, 2006; Posted: 5:30 p.m. EDT (21:30 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. William Jefferson said Monday that his side of the story in a bribery probe has yet to be told and blasted a search of his office by FBI agents as an "intrusion into the separation of powers."
The Louisiana Democrat reiterated his commitment to remaining in office and fighting the allegations against him a day after court papers indicated that federal agents found $90,000 during a search of his home last year.
FBI agents finished a separate search of his Capitol Hill office Sunday.
"There's two sides to each story, and we'll have a chance in the right forum to express our side of it," Jefferson told reporters in Washington after he returned from a weekend in his Louisiana district.
"The voters are reacting fine. They want to hear what the other side of the story is, and they will, as soon as we can do it."
Jefferson said he had been advised by his attorneys not to address any specific allegations in the case, but he said the release Sunday of a 95-page affidavit was "a selective release of information" and called the search of his office "unprecedented."
"I believe that it's completely inappropriate to use the police of the federal government to come into the office," he said.
In a news conference Monday afternoon, Jefferson called the search an "outrageous intrusion into the separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist also expressed concern about the search, saying Monday that "ever since the event happened our counsel has looked at it very closely," and that House and Senate leaders are in discussions with their counsels.
FBI agents searched Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building from Saturday evening to early Sunday afternoon, bureau spokeswoman Debra Weierman said.
One government official told CNN the search marked the first time FBI agents have searched a lawmaker's Capitol Hill office, and Jefferson said Monday that he knew of no precedent for the search.
Weierman would not comment on what agents removed from Jefferson's office. But in the papers released Sunday, investigators stated they were searching for faxes, notes, telephone records and other forms of communication, as well as ledgers and computer files related to meetings and travel.
In the affidavit used to obtain a warrant for the weekend search, investigators said that an August 2005 search of Jefferson's home turned up $90,000 in a freezer.
The cash was divided among various frozen food containers, according to the heavily redacted affidavit.
Agents told a judge the money was part of a $100,000 payment that had been delivered by an informant in the bribery probe, which already has led to guilty pleas by a Kentucky businessman and a former Jefferson aide. They have agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of their plea agreements.
The Justice Department has been investigating Jefferson's relationship to telecommunications deals in Africa and elsewhere, and the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation of him last week.
The eight-term congressman, whose district includes New Orleans and some of its suburbs, denied any wrongdoing Monday and said he plans to run for re-election.
But the affidavit states that investigators have collected evidence linking Jefferson to at least seven other cases in which he "sought things of value in return for his performance of official acts."
Robert Trout, the congressman's lawyer, blasted the release of the affidavit. In a statement issued Sunday night, he said the release of the warrant paperwork served "no legitimate investigative purpose."
"This disclosure by the prosecutors is part of a public relations agenda and an obvious attempt to embarrass Congressman Jefferson," Trout said. "The affidavit itself is just one side of the story, which has not been tested in court."
He said Jefferson would respond "at the appropriate time" if charged with any wrongdoing.
In an earlier statement, Trout called the search of Jefferson's office "outrageous" and said it was not necessary.
"The government knew that the documents were being appropriately preserved," he said.
The warrant and affidavit stated that federal investigators were unable to obtain the records relevant to the investigation and, "left with no other method," proceeded with the search.
Agents had previously searched Jefferson's homes in New Orleans and Washington.
Affidavit: Cash handover caught on tape
The cash found in his Washington residence was part of a $100,000 payment delivered by a cooperating witness identified in the affidavit only as "CW-1," or cooperating witness 1. The delivery was was videotaped by the FBI, according to the affidavit.
The FBI began investigating Jefferson in March 2005 after accusations made by that witness, identified as a Virginia resident who owns an investment firm.
CW-1 claimed, in a statement to the FBI, to be "a victim of a fraud and bribery scheme" involving Jefferson; Vernon Jackson, the CEO of Louisville, Kentucky-based iGate; and Brett Pfeffer, the president of the investment firm owned by the unnamed witness and a former Jefferson aide.
According to the affidavit, Jefferson had asked the witness for a percentage ownership interest in a Nigerian broadband company in exchange for the congressman "using his official acts to support the Nigerian business venture."
On Monday, a government official told CNN that CW-1 is a businesswoman named Lori Moody.