Professional Soldiers ® - Jury Convicts Former Lawmaker in Freezer Cash Case

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Jury Convicts Former Lawmaker in Freezer Cash Case

Justice, but where is the coverage?

If this had been a Republican, the trial would have been front page, and the verdict 60 pitch headlines.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...zer-cash-case/

Jury Convicts Former Lawmaker in Freezer Cash Cash

Former Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who had represented parts of New Orleans, was accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for brokering business deals in Africa.

AP Wednesday, August 05, 2009

A federal jury convicted a former U.S. congressman Wednesday of taking bribes on 11 of 16 counts in a case in which agents found $90,000 in his freezer.

Former Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who had represented parts of New Orleans, was accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for brokering business deals in Africa.

It took jurors five days to reach a decision after an eight-week trial. Most of the trial was government testimony. The defense wrapped up its case in a matter of hours.

The defense argued that Jefferson was acting as a private business consultant in brokering the deals and that his actions did not constitute bribery under federal law.

Prosecutors accused Jefferson of hiding bribes by funneling money disguised as consulting fees through sham companies controlled by his wife and brother.

In one recording played by defense attorneys, Jefferson explained that he did not want his name on any of the deals to avoid an appearance of impropriety.

Legally, much of the case turned on whether Jefferson's deal-brokering constituted an "official act" under federal bribery laws.

Jefferson has been under investigation since March 2005. In August of that year, FBI agents searched his Washington home and found $90,000 cash in his freezer, wrapped in foil and hidden in boxes of frozen pie crust.

Jefferson has disputed a claim by prosecutors that the freezer cash was bribe money.

Only place I heard about this was Fox News.

Glad to see this POS was convicted.

MSM will likely miss this...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...son-11-counts/

Quote:

A jury convicted former Rep. William J. Jefferson on 11 of 16 federal corruption charges Wednesday after deliberating for five days, though it acquitted him on the one count directly related to the notorious $90,000 in the freezer.

The Louisiana Democrat was acquitted on three counts of theft of honest services, and one count each of obstruction of justice and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act -- the last of which was the charge involving the freezer money, which FBI agents found in Jefferson's Capitol Hill home and which authorities said was intended to bribe the vice president of Nigeria.

Nevertheless, the Louisiana Democrat still faces decades in prison.

Jefferson, who lost a re-election bid last year after serving nine terms, was convicted instead of 11 corruption-related counts, taking bribes in exchange for helping American businesspeople involved in oil, sugar and telecommunications ventures gain access to West African countries. Jefferson tried to conceal the bribes through shell companies and sham consulting agreements, prosecutors said.

Most of the eight weeks the trial took at federal court in Alexandria involved the government presenting its case; the defense took less than a day to cast credibility on a couple of witnesses by rebutting a couple of details.

Prosecutors accused Jefferson of hiding bribes by funneling money disguised as consulting fees through sham companies controlled by his wife and brother. Jefferson was heard explaining in one recording, played by his attorneys, that avoiding the appearance of impropriety requires that his name not appear on any deals.

Jefferson's lawyers argued that the companies and consulting contracts were legitimate and the New Orleans Democrat was simply helping his family in arrangements that may have been ethically dubious, but weren't criminal.

But ironically, it's the cold, hard cash that people likely will remember best. Prosecutors said Jefferson took the freezer cash from an FBI informant and planned to use the money to bribe the then-vice president of Nigeria to help secure a telecommunications contract.

Defense attorneys said their client never intended to bribe Vice President Atiku Abubakar and simply took the money to placate an overaggressive FBI informant, whom they described as emotionally unstable.

During the trial, prosecutors played audio and video recordings of conversations between Jefferson and Lori Mody, a Northern Virginia businesswoman who had been involved in the venture to win the telecommunications contract in Nigeria, but went to the FBI after becoming suspicious about the entire arrangement. In one video from July 30, 2005, Ms. Mody, who was wearing a wire for the FBI, gave Jefferson a briefcase containing $100,000. The exchange took place outside the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City.

"I hope that's exactly what the vice president needs to make him work hard for us," Ms. Mody said at one point during the recording.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jefferson responds as he walks off with the briefcase.

Authorities say most of that money was found in Jefferson's freezer a few days later.

Yes, MSM missed it. But they weren't the only ones.

It is nationally syndicated - here's a few:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/05/us.rep.trial/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090806/...efferson_trial

I don't understand the title of this thread - isn't the Washington Times cited in the original posting a member of the MSM? :confused:

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Lead story on the nightly news

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard (Post 277179)

..I don't understand the title of this thread - isn't the Washington Times cited in the original posting a member of the MSM?...

I would guess it's related to the nightly news.

But then again, it's hard to get a story in between all the MJ coverage.

Another story is the congresscritter who was against the surge but is now for the surge. If he was a ..........

How, how much and where a story is covered tells a lot about the MSM and it's allies.

It's out in the MSM.

Richard

National Public radio was all over it 3 minutes 41 seconds . . . that really is a lot of air time on Morning Edition. I guess the 'constitutional separation of powers' issue made this case very interesting.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=111605699

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard (Post 277198)

It's out in the MSM.Richard

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=111605699

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dozer523 (Post 277247)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=111605699

Dozer,

I live 49 miles due north from New Orleans and get their local newspaper(Times Picayune) which had a humorous side to this story...... :p After they found the cash he had hid in his freezer he and the FBI guys sat down on his sofa where he began to admit his reasons for storing it in the freezer over some coffee he had provided them..... :rolleyes:

Big Teddy :munchin

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper (Post 277252)

Kind of like you missed it?
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=24421TR

No I didn't. Posted info in both threads. Doesn't happen often but we have two threads on the same subject.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dozer523 (Post 277261)

No I didn't. Posted info in both threads. Doesn't happen often but we have two threads on the same subject.

Missed again.

Not for you. The comment was for the OP.

TR

You won't see much coverage of his conviction, but you WILL catch the pep-rally's the dems throw for this POS.