Affidavit Outlines Alleged Scheme in Jefferson Case
WASHINGTON — Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.), the target of a federal bribery probe, told an FBI informant that the vice president of Nigeria wanted at least $500,000 upfront and a stake in a lucrative technology venture in that country in order to help it gain approval, according to newly released documents in the investigation.
Jefferson's alleged statements help explain why FBI agents were so eager last summer to search the residence of the congressman and a Potomac, Md., mansion owned by the wife of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Atiku, who visits the United States frequently, had been staying at the Potomac residence and allegedly met with Jefferson there to discuss the deal.
The congressman, who has insisted he is innocent of accepting bribes, allegedly told the FBI informant that in order to secure the Nigerian official's help with the technology project, Jefferson needed to deliver an upfront payment of $100,000 to Atiku while he was in the United States.
Some time after that, the informant provided Jefferson with the cash in a briefcase, according to one of the documents, an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Edward S. Cooper. The congressman later indicated that he had delivered the cash to Atiku on a late-night visit to the Potomac house, Cooper's affidavit said.
"Ah, I gave him the African art that you gave me, and he was very pleased," Jefferson told the informant, according to Cooper's affidavit. In his 39-page affidavit, Cooper said that "African art" was code for the cash payoff. The FBI has said the informant, a Virginia businesswoman, was wearing a microphone.
The affidavit was unsealed Monday by the federal court in Greenbelt, Md., and was made available Tuesday by the Justice Department.
A Washington lawyer for Atiku on Tuesday strongly denied wrongdoing by his client, who is running for president of Nigeria.
"There is no relationship between the vice president and Congressman Jefferson other than meetings occasioned by the professional courtesy a public official extends to another public official through diplomatic channels," the lawyer, Edward Weidenfeld, said.
"The vice president has done nothing wrong, and we've been cooperating with the Justice Department and the FBI from the beginning" of the long-running investigation, Weidenfeld said.
In one of his conversations with the FBI informant, Jefferson said Atiku had "more deals going than the goddamn man in the moon," the affidavit said. "Jefferson then said, 'He's a very, well, the word might be
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