August 13, 2005
Bill Jefferson: Feds looking for a Nigerian Connection?
curiouser and curiouser:
Probe seems to target Africa dealings
The federal investigation that led to raids last week on the homes and offices of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of New Orleans seems to have focused on possible African business dealings, as well as a company that lists Jefferson's wife as a director, according to a person who has seen the search warrants.
...
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity and who declined to provide a copy of the warrants, said there was "a decidedly foreign flavor" to the list of materials sought by federal agents in their raids last week on Jefferson's homes in New Orleans and Washington, his car in the capital, and the office of his longtime accountant and campaign treasurer in New Orleans.
Nigeria and another African country unspecified by the source are mentioned in the search warrants. The warrants further specify that the agents sought correspondence and e-mail between Jefferson and named foreign nationals, the source said. The source declined to comment on what the agents might have seized in the raids.
A cursory glance at iGate's website doesn't indicate any huge New Orleans connection, so this appears to be beltway dealings. Jefferson would be logical as a go-to guy, because he's seen by many as a member of the Black Congressional Caucus who is level-headed and has good business sense.
American Radio Works did a feature segment last year on Congressional Travel called "Power Trips." They offer details on the trip referenced in Da Paper's article, as part of a full listing of Jefferson's travel and who paid for it. The report covers the period from 2000 to 2004. Jefferson is ranked 33rd highest Congresscritter (House and Senate combined) in terms of receiving corporate travel contributions (Jefferson beats DeLay on the list by about $4k).
Still, while this data is educational in terms of how corporations acquire Congressional influence, it doesn't allege illegalities.
The company of interest here, iGATE, has donated about $4K to Jefferson. In addition to having a really poor website, the company's main product is called "last mile technology." The idea is that they carry a broadband internet link from a fiber-optic ring to the end user via (among other solutions) existing telephone wire. That makes a lot of sense in terms of bringing broadband internet service to schools and businesses in developing countries. It makes sense that they'd go to Jefferson to help nurture African business relationships.
So, it looks like Mr. Letten and company at the US Attorney's office suspect there's more to those relationships than simple nurturing.
There's also this interesting tidbit from the end of Da Paper's article:
Fawer disputed rumors since the raids that agents left Jefferson's Marengo Street home with a large amount of cash, perhaps as much as $500,000, and that they had timed their raids out of concern that in his then-impending trade mission to Brazil, Jefferson was providing himself an opportunity to move the money out of the country.
"That's just nonsense; it's not true," Fawer said. "I can't tell you there was no money seized, but it is not true that sums like that were taken either here or in Washington. I don't believe the money was in the six figures."
The warrant for Jefferson's house authorized seizure of currency "in excess of $100." Fawer described the language as boilerplate, though another lawyer familiar with federal cases said it was odd to see a cash listing in a white-collar case.
"Fawer" is Michael Fawer, one of Jefferson's attorneys. I agree that adding cash to a white-collar warrant is unusual, but Letten's folks have been through all the riverboat gambling investigations, so it's possible that the cash provisions have become boilerplate down here.