Originally published February 15 2006
Add another member of Congress to investigations piling up on Capitol Hill
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Louisiana representative William Jefferson is suspected to be the employer Brett M. Pfeffer referenced as "Representative A" in his talks with federal investigators about a bribery scandal involving the sale of a Kentucky company technology to Nigeria.
A former aide to Rep. William Jefferson pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal bribery charges and said a former employer demanded kickbacks and other bribes from an American company that wanted a multimillion-dollar deal with the Nigerian government.
Rep. William Jefferson, D- La, arrives at a press event in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Pfeffer worked as an aide to Jefferson, D-New Orleans, from 1995-1998.
According to court documents, the Kentucky company --- identified in published reports as iGate Corp. in Louisville --- hoped to provide broadband services, including high-speed internet and cable television, to Nigerians.
The deals were negotiated in 2004 and 2005, several years after Pfeffer left Jefferson's employ to work for an investment company in Virginia that represented iGate.
Pfeffer also said that "Representative A" told a member of the investment firm that he wanted a member of his family put on the payroll, receiving between $2,500 and $5,000 a month.
Pfeffer said he understood that this help would be in the form of efforts to influence high-ranking Nigerian government officials and travel to Nigeria to facilitate meetings.
On Aug. 3, 2004, the FBI raided Jefferson's New Orleans and Washington homes, seizing documents and cash that had been kept in a freezer.
The only black member of the Louisiana congressional delegation, Jefferson was elected to the House of Representatives in 1990.
After winning a seat on the coveted Ways and Means Committee, he plunged into trade issues and co-sponsored the African free trade bill Congress approved in 2000.
Jefferson's financial disclosure and travel records show he traveled to Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in February of 2004 on a trip that was paid for in part by iGate Inc.
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