FBI Readying Monster Bribery Case against Jefferson

John Bresnahan of Roll Call has more on the FBI’s case against Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA). :

Documents filed in support of the search show that the Justice Department is assembling a wide-ranging case against the veteran Democratic lawmaker. At this time, Jefferson is being investigated for bribery, wire fraud, bribery of a foreign official and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the search warrant.

But the Justice Department and FBI agents are also looking at “least seven other schemes in which Congressman Jefferson sought things of value” in return for official acts, the affidavit states. That suggests that additional avenues for prosecuting Jefferson could be revealed soon.

The FBI has two confidential witnesses who are offering testimony against Jefferson, as well as undercover audio and videotapes of him allegedly asking for and receiving bribes worth potentially millions of dollars in exchange for his help in putting together African telecommunications deals for U.S. firms, according to the affidavit.

And Bresnahan has more on that $100,000 cash payment made by the FBI informant at the Ritz-Carlton. The meeting was caught on video “from several vantage points,” according to the FBI. The money was supposed to be passed on the Nigerian Vice President, you see, but it seems that Jefferson just kept it in his freezer. Well, he kept most of it:

During a search executed on Jefferson’s home in Washington, D.C., a week later, special agents found $90,000 from that payment in the freezer, “concealed inside frozen food containers” in $10,000 blocks, wrapped in aluminum foil, the FBI stated. The FBI had recorded the serial numbers on the bills before they were given to Jefferson, and the money from the freezer matched those numbers.

Of the missing $10,000, Jefferson allegedly gave $4,800 to one of his Congressional aides, and one of his lawyers later gave the FBI another $4,900, which leaves only $300 unaccounted for.

Keep in mind that Jefferson’s already said that there’s no way he’s stepping down just because of a trumped-up indictment.