WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- The FBI says U.S. Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La., was videotaped last August accepting $100,000 from an investor who was wearing a wire.
A search warrant affidavit released Sunday said FBI agents raided Jefferson's Washington home a few days later and found $90,000 of the cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers, The Washington Post reported.
The newspaper said the 83-page affidavit, used to raid Jefferson's Capitol Hill office on Saturday night, alleges Jefferson had a history of involvement in numerous bribery schemes and used his family to hide his interest in high-tech business ventures he promoted in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.
About 15 FBI agents raided Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building Saturday night. Authorities said it was the first time the FBI had raided a sitting congressman's office.
Jefferson, who has been the target of a 14-month corruption probe, has not been charged and has maintained his innocence. He is also the subject of a House Ethics Committee inquiry, the newspaper said.
