CREW PREPARES ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST REP. WILLIAM JEFFERSON

12 Apr 2006 // Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has prepared an ethics complaint against Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) regarding his role in a conspiracy and bribery scheme as well as for misusing federal resources in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Last fall, CREW named Mr. Jefferson as one of the 13 most corrupt Members of Congress.

CREW is asking that a Member of the House forward the complaint against Rep. Jefferson to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, better known as the House Ethics Committee. CREW is not submitting the complaint to the Ethics Committee directly because outside groups are barred from filing complaints. The rules allow a Member of the House to certify that CREW’s complaint has a good faith basis and forward the complaint to the Ethics Committee, stating that the complaint merits the Committee’s consideration.

CREW based much of its complaint on information revealed in the plea agreement of Rep. Jefferson’s former legislative assistant, Brett Pfeffer. In court documents, Mr. Pfeffer stated that in 2004, he was employed as President of an investment company and worked with Rep. Jefferson and another company, iGate Inc., to market high-speed internet and broadband services in Nigeria. Rep. Jefferson apparently agreed to use his position as a Member of Congress to promote the Nigerian deal in return for favors bestowed upon his family members. In addition, Mr. Jefferson received significant campaign contributions from iGate’s CEO, Vernon Jackson, and Jackson’s wife. Mr. Jackson and iGate also made campaign contributions to Rep. Jefferson’s daughter, Louisiana state Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock.

In order to further a deal in Ghana similar to the Nigerian deal, Rep. Jefferson traveled to that country with official staff, a member of his extended family and an employee of Mr. Pfeffer’s. He again used his official position to promote the deal, in exchange for a percentage of the Ghanian company and a position within that company for his family members.

Finally, Rep. Jefferson improperly used federal resources during the mayhem following Hurricane Katrina by using National Guard troops to check on his home and retrieve some of his belongings.

“Rep. Jefferson’s conduct shows a blatant disregard for the rule of law and the integrity of the House of Representatives.” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today. “We urge a member of the House to ignore the long-standing ethics truce and file CREW’s complaint with the House Ethics Committee today.”

A copy of CREW’s complaint is available on its website, www.citizensforethics.org.

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.
For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/press@citizensforethics.org.