The Bribe That Got Away

There was a new FBI search warrant affidavit unsealed yesterday in the Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) case, which offered a little more in the way of damning evidence – but mostly it just heightens one of the central mysteries of the case for me.

Why didn’t Jefferson hand over the $100,000 to the Vice President of Nigeria, like he’d promised?

Here’s what we know.

On July 30, 2005, Jefferson met with Lori Mody, a businesswoman (and FBI informant). Following up on their earlier discussions about bribing the Vice President of Nigeria (now running for president), Atiku Abubakar, to grease a telecom deal in Nigeria, Mody transfered a leather briefcase to Jefferson in the parking lot of the Ritz-Carlton with $100,000 inside.

On July 31st, the FBI intercepted Jefferson’s cell phone signal near Abubakar’s house, according to the recently released affidavit.

On August 1st, Mody asked Jefferson whether he’d delivered “the package.” He replied, “I gave him the African art that you gave me and he was very pleased.”

So when the FBI raided Abubakar’s home on August 3rd, they were expecting to find the leather briefcase with the $100,000. But instead the money turned up in Jefferson’s freezer at his Washington home. And $10,000 of it was gone.

So what happened? Did Jefferson double-cross Mody? Or was it all a big misunderstanding?

The answer is important: it’s the difference between a corrupt congressman and an incredibly corrupt congressman.