Alexandria, Va.
A federal grand jury this week indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in connection with a long-running bribery investigation. Jefferson, a nine-term Louisiana Democrat, was charged with soliciting bribes from companies to promote their business ventures in Africa; two other figures in the alleged scheme already have been convicted. The FBI nearly two years ago videotaped an informant handing Jefferson $100,000 in marked bills, which he said he would use “as a motivating factor” to win approval of a deal to install Internet cable in Nigeria. Authorities later found $90,000 of the bills in Jefferson’s freezer. Jefferson, 60, says he is the victim of an unfair sting and will not resign from Congress as he fights the charges.
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