Was Dollar Bill Jefferson set up?

Jefferson's lawyer, Robert Trout, said he had not had the chance to read the whole indictment, but he said Jefferson had been set up by overzealous FBI agents. The Justice Department wants to try the case in “a court of public opinion that will eclipse a fair and just trial,” he said. “There will be a time and place for us to tell our side of the story... In this particular case, they picked the wrong congressman and they picked the wrong facts.”

Remember the FBI raid? Hastert, Frist, and Gingrich took an interest to stop the FBI raid of Jefferson's home.


Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, "There is no excuse for the FBI for the first time in history searching a congressional office and apparently doing so in total regard of due process as it relates to the Legislative Branch." Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) also criticized the FBI's actions. Dennis Hastert told President Bush that he was concerned the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid on Jefferson’s congressional office was a direct violation of the Constitution. The real question is why did GOPs Hastert, Gingrich, Frist, and Bush had an interest in Democratic Congressman William Jefferson? What was the connection to Jefferson?

Here is the latest:


Undercover FBI Agent Drove Rep. Jefferson to Nigerian Vice President's House

More documents have been unsealed in the Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) investigation. An affidavit in support of a search warrant to search the Nigerian Vice President's house in Potomac, Maryland shows that the FBI was more closely involved in the Jefferson case than just the use of a confidential informant in the investigation.

Deep in the document the affidavit discloses that the FBI used an undercover agent to drive Rep. Jefferson and Mody to the home of the Nigerian Vice President on July 18, 2005. The affidavit states, "The FBI special agent who drove Jefferson and CW to the home of the wife of the Nigerian Vice President on July 18, 2005 has reported that he observed a surveillance camera located on the premises located at 9731 Sorrel Ave. Potomac Maryland."

The affidavit alleges that former Jefferson aide Brett Pfeffer asked Rep. Jefferson to suggest investments for his boss, Lori Mody, and lays out numerous contacts between the three of them and their apparent attempts to steer business deals with the influence of the Nigerian Vice President.

Days after visiting the house of the Nigerian Vice President later on July 30, 2005 Jefferson allegedly accepted $100,000 from Mody. On August 3, the FBI executed search warrants on his house and at the Nigerian Vice President's house. During the August 3 search, federal investigators found $90,000 in cash in the freezer at Jefferson's Washington home.