Latest On FBI Probe Of Kufuor

THE FBI CORRUPTION probe of US Rep. William Jefferson in which the names of former Nigerian Vice President Abubakar Atiku, current Ghanaian Veep Aliu Mahama and son of President Kufuor, Mr. Edward Kufuor, were initially cited appears to be going nowhere following fresh setbacks suffered by the FBI.

Information available to GYE NYAME CONCORD indicates that the US Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the FBI violated the US Constitution when agents raided William Jefferson's office last year and viewed legislative documents in the corruption probe, leaving the FBI pondering on its next line of action.

The US Appeals Court in its ruling also ordered the Justice Department to return any legislative documents it seized from the Louisiana Democrat's office on Capitol Hill, following a challenge mounted by Jefferson, who has been a regular visitor to Ghana in recent times.

The court, however, did not order the return of all the documents seized in the raid and did not say whether prosecutors could use any of the records against Jefferson in their bribery case, reports say.

The FBI probe, which began in 2005, initially rocked Nigerian and Ghanaian political circles following the mentioning of the names of the former Nigerian Veep as well as the names of Aliu and Edward Kufuor.

But Atiku, whose home in Potomac, Maryland, in the US was searched as part of a federal investigation on August 3, 2005 - same day the New Orleans homes of eight-term Democrat Rep. William Jefferson was searched - and Veep Aliu Mahama have denied suggestions that they might have been compromised by the American legislator, with Atiku insisting that the search of his home was meant to undermine his candidature for the Nigerian presidency.

On his part, Aliu Mahama dismissed the allegations and explained that he had met the American legislator and a delegations of five top Americans together with former Communications Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah as part of his normal functions and following arrangements by Ghana's mission in the US for the Americans to pursue the establishment of a proposed project to provide high speed Internet services over the existing copper telephone wire infrastructure of Ghana Telecom.

Jefferson is said to have written to then Ghana's Ambassador, Fritz Kwabena Poku, on June 28, 2005, informing the latter about a project, which was to involve an investment of approximately US$25 million over a five-year period, and the intention of his delegation to visit Ghana for talks with high-ranking government officials.

The delegation, which included Lori Mody, Brett Pfeffer, Tori Bullock, Byeong Keon Son and Angelle Kwemo, was to seek audience with President Kufuor, the then Minister of Communications, Managing Director of Ghana Telecom and other officials involved in the decision to permit the investment in high Internet service in Ghana.

The team, however, met with the Veep, Mr. Kan Dapaah and the GT team as the President himself was out of Ghana. The delegation has since not returned to follow-up on its queries, this paper gathered.

"It is instructive to note that no tenders have been received on the project and so no monies have changed hands. The Vice President can therefore, not be linked to any corruption allegation…," a source close to the Office of the Vice President told the media when the issue broke up.

Since the denial, the names of both Atiku and Aliu have dropped off the investigative radar of the FBI, with the name of the son of the President, Edward Kufuor, who facilitated the trip rather popping up.

Recent reports from the New Orleans-based Times Picayune newspaper, which broke the story together with the DC-based Washington Post, had indicated that unsealed documents from the FBI investigation indicates that Edward introduced Jefferson to the Ghanaian officials based on a plan to steer profits to himself in order to push the telecommunications deal.

"Jefferson has told (the confidential witness) that is it likely the son of the president of Ghana will receive a share of the profits of a joint venture to be set up in that country in exchange for his assistance in obtaining the necessary approvals for the commencement of the business venture there," the FBI wrote in its search warrant application to search Jefferson's New Orleans home and the office of accountant Jack Swetland.

The documents show that Edward Kufuor was one of those who traveled from Washington with Jefferson to Ghana, where the deal was pitched to numerous high-level government officials, including the Vice President and the Minister of communications, the Times Picayune wrote in its report on the issue about a month ago, claiming it could not reached Edward for his comment.

Edward Kufuor has since then, however, denied any wrong doing in the case.

Speaking through the former Government Spokesperson on Good Governance and current Deputy Information Minister, Frank Agyekum, around the same time, Edward told the Accra-based 6 radio station that he only introduced the congressman to government as a friend and denied taking any money from him.

In the latest twist to the saga, Jefferson's lawyers successfully argued before the Federal Appeals Court that the first-of-its-kind raid on a congressman trampled congressional independence and that the US Constitution prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement powers to interfere with the lawmaking process.

On its part, the Justice Department, which represented the FBI, said that declaring the search unconstitutional would essentially prohibit the FBI from ever looking at a lawmaker's documents.

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, however, rejected that claim.

The court held that, while the search itself was constitutional, FBI agents crossed the line when they viewed every record in the office without giving Jefferson the chance to argue that some documents involved legislative business.

"The review of the Congressman's paper files when the search was executed exposed legislative material to the Executive" and violated the Constitution, the court wrote. "The Congressman is entitled to the return of documents that the court determines to be privileged."

The raid was part of a 16-month international bribery investigation of Jefferson, who allegedly accepted $100,000 from a telecommunications businessman, $90,000 of which was later recovered in a freezer in his Washington home.

Jefferson pleaded not guilty in June to charges of soliciting more than $500,000 in bribes while using his office to broker business deals in Africa. The Justice Department said it built that case without using the disputed documents from the raid.

The court did not rule whether, because portions of the search were illegal, prosecutors should be barred from using any of the records in their case against Jefferson. That will be decided by the federal judge in Virginia who is presiding over the criminal case.

"Today's opinion underscores the fact that the Department of Justice is required to follow the law, and that it is bound to abide by the Constitution," defence attorney Robert Trout, is quoted as having said by the US press after the ruling, promising more legal challenges to "overreaching by the government in this case."

Other media reports suggest that the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the decision, though officials claim they took extraordinary steps, including using an FBI "filter team" not involved in the case to review the congressional documents. Government attorneys also argued that the Constitution was not intended to shield lawmakers from prosecution for political corruption; arguments the court refused.

Instead, the court said the Constitution insists that lawmakers must be free from any intrusion into their congressional duties. Such intrusion, even by a filter team, "may therefore chill the exchange of views with respect to legislative activity," the court held.

The case was considered by Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, Judge Karen Lecraft Henderson and Judge Judith W. Rogers.