Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)

Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA) is a ninth-term member of Congress, representing Louisiana’s second congressional district. Rep. Jefferson’s ethics issues, for which he has now been indicted, stem from his business dealings and his misuse of federal resources. Rep. Jefferson was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.

Federal Indictment

On June 4, 2007, Rep. Jefferson was indicted on 16 criminal counts, including two counts of conspiracy to solicit bribes, two counts of solicitation of bribes by a public official, six counts of honest services fraud by wire, one count of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, three counts of money laundering, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of racketeering.  The indictment stems from multiple instances in which Rep. Jefferson agreed to perform official acts for 11 different companies in return for bribes payable to him and his family members.  The indictment was the culmination of a criminal investigation that began in approximately March 2005.

The 94-page indictment outlines in considerable detail multiple bribery schemes in which Rep. Jefferson participated.  These include bribes that Rep. Jefferson sought in the form of cash payments, stock, and a percentage of revenues from iGate, a telecommunications firm in Louisville, Kentucky, that were paid to ANJ, a Jefferson family-controlled company.  In addition, Rep. Jefferson used his congressional staff to plan trips to Africa for the purpose of promoting iGate’s business ventures and used congressional letterhead for similar purposes.  In addition, Rep. Jefferson offered a bribe to a Nigerian official in Potomac, Maryland, in exchange for using his position to benefit a Nigerian joint venture.  Rep. Jefferson placed $90,000 of the $100,000 intended as the front-end bribe to the Nigerian official in the freezer of his Washington, D.C. home, separated into $10,000 increments.  This money was later recovered by FBI agents during a raid of Rep. Jefferson’s residence.  

Rep. Jefferson has been charged with conspiracy, racketeering, bribery, honest services fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Rep. Jefferson’s criminal case is scheduled to begin in December 2008, but is likely to be delayed further while Rep. Jefferson continues appealing preliminary matters.  For example, Rep. Jefferson is arguing that his indictment should be dismissed because it was obtained in violation of the Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear this argument on September 24, 2008.
                                     
Use of the National Guard to Visit Home and Retrieve Property

Five days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, on September 2, 2005, Rep. Jefferson allegedly used National Guard troops to check in on his home and collect a few belongings – a laptop computer, three suitcases and a large box.  By using the National Guard to visit his home and retrieve property -- at a time when the citizens of New Orleans had no such similar opportunities -- Rep. Jefferson appears to have violated House rules, engaging in conduct that does not reflect credibly on the House.

“Blood Diamond” Trips

Rep. Jefferson traveled to Botswana four times in 2001 and 2002.  He filed a travel disclosure form for just one of the trips, but not the other three, which cost a total of $102,000 and were paid for by the Debswana Diamond Company, a joint venture between DeBeers SA and the Botswana Government.

In 2001, Rep. Jefferson was an original co-sponsor of the “Clean Diamonds Act” designed to curb the trade of “blood diamonds.”  By Rep. Jefferson’s own admission, the new law would have had an effect on Botswana.  In April of that same year, just before leaving for his first trip to Botswana, Rep. Jefferson dropped his co-sponsorship. When he returned from his trip, Rep. Jefferson actively spoke out against the bill, which Debswana opposed.

By deliberately failing to include the Botswana trips valued at $102,000 on his financial disclosure forms, Rep. Jefferson may have violated the Ethics in Government Act and House rules.

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