The legal team defending former Rep. William Jefferson has had a rough day so far at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. The trial judge has consistently overruled its objections to testimony from one of the government's top witnesses.
Prosecutors just spent the morning and early afternoon questioning Vernon Jackson, the Louisville, Ky., engineer whose company, iGate, has been at the center of the Jefferson scandal. Jackson, who is serving a prison term after pleading guilty to charges that he bribed the Louisiana Democrat, first took the stand yesterday. He told the jury that he initially approached Jefferson for help promoting his company, which sold technology that would speed up Internet access across copper phone lines.Jefferson, Jackson said, suggested that iGate hire a consulting company owned and run by the congressman's wife, Andrea. Jackson signed a contract that would pay the consulting company a monthly fee of $7,500, plus a percentage of any capital the consultants raised and stock in iGate. Jackson testified that he later found out that the consulting company had not been incorporated until after he signed the agreement.
Jackson testified he quickly concluded that Jefferson's wife was not doing any work for iGate, and that he was essentially paying for Jefferson's services as a congressman.
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