| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
15 Jan 2006 03:36:16 PM |
| Object: |
Ex-Aide Pleads Guilty to Bribing Congressman |
Ex-Aide Pleads Guilty to Bribing Congressman
By Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 12, 2006; Page A05
A former aide to Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) pleaded guilty
yesterday to bribing the congressman to promote high-tech business
ventures in Africa.
Brett M. Pfeffer, 37, of Herndon, a former president of a McLean
investment firm, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria
to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and aiding and
abetting the bribery of a public official in 2004 and 2005.
Pfeffer, who worked as Jefferson's legislative aide from 1995 to 1998,
faces up to 20 years in prison. He has agreed to cooperate in the
ongoing FBI probe.
The man Pfeffer bribed is referred to only as "Representative A" in
court papers. But law enforcement sources and documents make clear the
politician is the defendant's former employer, Jefferson, who has not
been charged in the case.
Pfeffer recounted in court how his former Capitol Hill boss, in
exchange for using his congressional influence in Africa, demanded a 5
to 7 percent stake in one of two new companies Pfeffer's firm was
investing in. The companies were to provide high-speed Internet and
cable TV service in Ghana and Nigeria.
Pfeffer said the congressman also demanded that two relatives be put
on the businesses' payrolls.
Pfeffer told his boss at the investment firm, a 41-year-old woman
referred to as "CW" in court papers, that such was the cost of doing
business with the congressman, a court document said.
Jefferson, a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, is
co-chairman of the congressional Africa Trade and Investment Caucus
and the caucuses on Brazil and Nigeria.
At one point last year, the FBI set up a sting in which Pfeffer's
investment company boss recorded conversations, according to law
enforcement sources who declined to be identified because the
investigation is ongoing.
FBI agents also raided several locations, including Jefferson's homes
in the District and New Orleans, where they found about $90,000 in
cash in a freezer, sources said.
Jefferson's press secretary, Melanie Rousell, declined to comment
yesterday, saying Jefferson was in the Netherlands studying flood
controls.
His attorney, Michael Fawer, said he wanted to speak to Jefferson
before commenting.
According to court documents, in early 2004, Pfeffer told his former
boss about his job at a McLean investment company and "his search for
business opportunities."
Pfeffer said Jefferson told him about an opportunity in Nigeria
involving a Louisville-based company with the rights to a technology
enabling copper wires to carry high-speed Internet. Pfeffer's boss
eventually agreed to invest $45 million in the Nigeria venture, and
Jefferson demanded a stake as well assurances his relatives would be
on the payroll, according to court documents.
"Pfeffer understood that [Jefferson] was soliciting a bribe in
exchange for [his] official assistance," the court document said.
The document said a similar deal was struck in 2005 regarding a Ghana
deal.
--
"The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing
their memory, or their backbone, but we're not going to sit by and
let them rewrite history." -- ***** Cheney 11/16/2005
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." -- John Updike
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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| User: " Malto" |
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| Title: Re: Ex-Aide Pleads Guilty to Bribing Congressman |
15 Jan 2006 05:16:01 PM |
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Wow, what stunning news.
Hardly compares to Jack Abramoff though, does it?......:)
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| User: "Captain Compassion" |
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| Title: Re: Ex-Aide Pleads Guilty to Bribing Congressman |
15 Jan 2006 05:32:48 PM |
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On 15 Jan 2006 23:16:01 GMT, " Malto" <..Malto@offski.commiee.com>
wrote:
Wow, what stunning news.
Hardly compares to Jack Abramoff though, does it?......:)
It's the tip of the iceberg my boy. Eventually all of the Democrats in
Congress will be tied to Jefferson.
--
"The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing
their memory, or their backbone, but we're not going to sit by and
let them rewrite history." -- ***** Cheney 11/16/2005
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." -- John Updike
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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