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Legislator’s corruption indictment casts shadow over mystery lawmaker |
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By Jonathan E. Kaplan
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Posted: 06/06/07 09:05 PM [ET] |
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Federal prosecutors indicted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) on Monday, but they also implicated another member of the House.
But it’s unclear who it is.
On page 17 of the Department of Justice’s charging document against the Louisiana lawmaker, prosecutors allege that Jefferson introduced business partner Vernon Jackson to a “prominent member” of the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications, trade, and consumer protection subcommittee in 2002.
That member, whom prosecutors claim was not told of Jefferson’s financial interest in Jackson’s technology company, IGate, subsequently wrote a letter on congressional letterhead praising a technology made by IGate.
The letter, which was sent to IGate as an apparent endorsement of the technology that transmits data over copper wire, was seen as beneficial for the company to strike a business deal in Africa.
The Hill contacted members who were on the 2002 subcommittee and the lawmakers who did respond said they did not write the letter. Others did not comment for this article.
Rep. Edolphus Towns’s (D-N.Y.) spokeswoman, Denise Mixon, said that Towns was traveling and unavailable for comment. Another source familiar with his work on the panel denied that Towns wrote the letter.
Towns was the ranking member of the subcommittee in 2002.
Democratic Reps. Ed Markey (Mass.), Bobby Rush (Ill.), Jane Harman (Calif.), Bart Gordon (Tenn.), Michael Doyle (Pa.), Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Henry Waxman (Calif.) did not write the letter, said their spokespeople. Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) did not respond to requests for comment.
Former Rep. Chris John (D-La.), now a lobbyist with Ogilvy Government Relations, said that he did not pen the letter. Former Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) could not be reached for comment.
Other Democrats who were on the subcommittee were Reps. Anna Eshoo (Calif.) and John Dingell (Mich.) as an ex-officio member. They did not comment at press time.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the subcommittee chairman at the time, could also not be reached for comment at press time.
It is unlikely that Jefferson had any close relationships with the Republican lawmakers on the panel. However, the indictment did not stipulate that the member was a Democrat.
Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia told reporters on Monday that the investigation is ongoing. Prosecutors suggested on page 12 of the indictment that more charges could be forthcoming.
The indictment stated that Jefferson, Jackson and former Jefferson aide Brett Pfeffer and “others known and unknown to the grand jury” broke the law.
Yet, the fact that the lawmaker in question was not labeled as “Representative A” also could indicate that he/she is not the subject of an investigation.
“It’s odd that they’re using such vague language,” Mike Uhl, a former career federal prosecutor in Dallas, said. “Normally, they do that when they don’t know who it is. But they obviously must know who it is. My guess is it’s probably not another subject or target.”This article has been updated since it appeared in print on June 6 |
