Daily Outrage: Jury watches recording of $100,000 payoff
Examiner Staff Writer
July 8, 2009
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| Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. makes a statement to reporters outside federal court in Alexandria, Va., Friday, June 8, 2007, after pleading not guilty to charges of soliciting more than $500,000 in bribes while using his office to broker business deals in Africa. (AP file photo) |
WHO: Former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson
WHAT: A Virginia federal jury spent Tuesday watching a four-camera video recording of William Jefferson — a nine-term Democrat who formerly represented parts of New Orleans in Congress — seemingly accepting a suitcase filled with $100,000 in marked money outside a hotel. Jefferson is on trial for 16 counts of allegedly accepting more than $400,000 in bribes to broker business deals in Nigeria. On camera, he appeared wary of accepting money in public.
WHY IT’S A BAD IDEA: Besides audio and video recordings, prosecution evidence also includes $90,000 of the marked cash allegedly found in Jefferson’s freezer by FBI agents raiding his Washington, D.C., home.
WHAT’S BEING DONE: Jefferson pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued that his dealings were as a private citizen and not subject to federal bribery statutes. But that will be up to the jury.
