Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/louisiana-congressman-indicted-on-bribery-charges Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on charges including bribery and racketeering. The NewsHour talks with a congressional reporter about the case and Jefferson's future. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JEFFREY BROWN: Today's indictment of nine-term Democrat William Jefferson caps a two-year criminal investigation into the congressman's role in trying to secure business deals in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. That probe included a raid on Jefferson's Louisiana home, where investigators found $95,000 in cash stuffed in a freezer.A subsequent raid of his congressional office sparked protests by both House Democratic and Republican leaders and provoked a constitutional fight still being argued in the courts.Here to tell us more about the case is Susan Ferrechio of Congressional Quarterly.Welcome. So 16 counts, some very complicated stuff, but it can be boiled down, as we heard in our news summary clip, to what? SUSAN FERRECHIO, Congressional Quarterly: To Mr. Jefferson using his official capacity as a member of Congress to solicit bribes and accept bribes in exchange for helping to establish telecommunications and other deals in African nations, namely Nigeria and Ghana.This has been a case that the federal government has tracked for about a five-year period, and they've got all kinds of evidence now, including the video clips of him accepting a bribe, and hard evidence, like cash found in his freezer. But it's really just about, you know, a public corruption case. He's a member of Congress. He was elected to serve his constituents. And the Justice Department is accusing him of using that office for his own personal gain.