Posted on 09/16/2006 12:47:56 AM PDT by neverdem
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In July 2005, Vernon L. Jackson returned home to Louisville from Washington, where he had just met with Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who had been helping promote his fledgling digital-technology company. David Harper, a lawyer for the company, said he had never seen Mr. Jackson so demoralized.
For nearly five years, the inventor and the congressman had carried the message that Mr. Jackson’s company, iGate, could help close the “digital divide” by delivering high-speed Internet access to poor blacks around the world.
They had flown to Africa to seek business opportunities, and they had talked up iGate to potential partners at the Kentucky Derby and the United States Open tennis tournament in New York.
But now, with iGate starved for cash, Mr. Jackson was convinced that Mr. Jefferson, his “friend on the Hill,” was about to betray him, Mr. Harper recalled.
Over breakfast at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the congressman had made a proposal that, in Mr. Jackson’s view, was tantamount to theft: in return for a quick infusion of cash, Mr. Harper said, Mr. Jefferson and his investors would take control of iGate and its promising broadband patents while easing Mr. Jackson aside and cutting off most of the company’s creditors.
Unbeknownst to the two men, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been monitoring their dealings. Less than three weeks later, agents raided Mr. Jefferson’s homes, in Washington and in New Orleans, and found stacks of cash stuffed in a freezer.
Mr. Jackson, 54, has pleaded guilty to paying more than $400,000 in bribes for Mr. Jefferson’s help; on Sept. 8, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. An F.B.I. search of the congressman’s office last May set off a showdown between Congress and the Justice Department. Mr. Jefferson has denied any...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So it was a race based idea from the get-go???
Others might say economic class based.
Its the NY Times! If they could have disguised it as that, they would have said that. The fact that they didn't try speaks volumes.
You wrote: "It looks like the NY Times has Representative William J. Jefferson, "dyed, fried and laid to the side," in the immortal words of Redd Foxx. IMHO, he's cooked."
Fingers crossed, I hope you're right, but this is in NYT "nobody reads it" Saturday edition, and why is it taking soooooo long to indict Representative Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana? The NYT is late on the heels of the following article:
September 9, 2006
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060908-112847-1591r.htm
"Businessman tied to lawmaker sentenced
A Kentucky businessman who admitted paying more than $400,000 in bribes to a Louisiana congressman was sentenced yesterday to more than seven years in prison. Vernon Jackson, 54, of Louisville, is a key figure in the federal investigation of Rep. William J. Jefferson, Louisiana Democrat.
The chief executive of the telecommunications firm IGate Inc. said he paid the bribes to gain the congressman's help in obtaining business deals in Africa. The bribes paid by Jackson, including stocks and cash paid to a company controlled by Mr. Jefferson's family, had a value of $400,000 to $1 million, according to court records. Mr. Jefferson has denied any wrongdoing. "
Retired Congressman Billy Tauzin once issued this description of his home state: "Half of Louisiana is under water and the other half is under indictment."
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