“Sources tell CBS News that Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) has been indicted on more than a dozen counts involving public corruption. Details soon.”
UPDATE: From the WaPo:
Federal prosecutors are seeking an indictment today against Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) in a longstanding FBI corruption probe centering on allegations that he took bribes to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa, sources familiar with the investigation said.
Prosecutors are presenting the case to grand jurors in Alexandria today, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no charges have yet been filed.
If filed, the indictment would cap a long and tumultuous investigation that was stalled for months because of a legal battle over the constitutionality of an FBI raid on Jefferson’s office last May. The raid came after the FBI found $90,000 in the freezer of his Capitol Hill home.
UPDATE II: “A Justice Department official familiar with the case said the indictment outlining the evidence against Jefferson is more than an inch thick and charges the congressman with crimes that could keep him in prison for up to 200 years.”
UPDATE III: According to ABC, the 16 count indictment has been returned, and “the charges include racketeering, solicitation of bribes, honest services wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, violating the foreign corrupt practices act, and conspiracy.”
UPDATE IV: Read the full indictment.
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