[StBernard] Bill Jefferson - The Mother Teresa connection

[Westley Annis]

ERROL LABORDE: Bill Jefferson - The Mother Teresa connection 
04-06-06 07:07 

Congressman Bill Jefferson cautions us that there are two sides to every
story, and he is right. While some of the facts about the ongoing federal
investigation into his business dealings admittedly look suspicious, we have
been looking for that other side. Through gut hunch and intuition I think I
found the real story and though Jefferson might be embarrassed for this to
go public, here is what I think happened: 

Several years ago Jefferson secretly began siphoning a portion of his pay
checks toward making a large contribution to the late Mother Teresa's
Missionaries of Charity based in Calcutta, India. (That there is a religious
side to the Jefferson family is already evident in that his brother is named
Mose.) 

Jefferson could have deposited the purloined funds into a special bank
savings account but that would have caused two problems. One was that
establishing the account might have made it tempting to take a tax deduction
on the charitable contribution. Jefferson, however, wanted to pay his full
income tax without taking the tax break. And the other concern was that by
placing the money in the bank some nosey clerk might have leaked news of
Jefferson's benevolence to the press creating more unwanted headlines. 

Without being able to use the bank, Jefferson converted his checks into cash
and decided to stash the money in his New Orleans home. Since he is in
Washington much of the time, he wanted to put the money where no burglar
would find it. That's why the congressman placed the cash in his freezer. He
reasoned that no burglar would think to look for treasures alonside the
frozen pizza Next Jefferson faced the problem of getting the money to
Calcutta without arousing public admiration. Fearing leaks, he avoided the
mail and private delivery services, and instead set up an African
telecommunications business as a front for funneling the contributions into
Asia. 

He might have gotten away with his scheme except that someone tipped of the
Feds. Anyone who would do so, would likely be connected to an institution
threatened by Jefferson's generosity- perhaps another charity. My guess is
that it was Jerry's Kids. As comedian Jerry Lewis prepared for his annual
Labor Day weekend telethon he probably feared the dangerous precedent of
charitable donations being sent out of the country. 

One day this story will be made public and Jefferson will be vindicated.
Instead of going up the river he will cross the Atlantic to Stockholm for a
Nobel Prize; instead of leaving the House he will head home to receive the
Times-Picayune Loving Cup. 

In the end he will celebrate by treating his friends and family to a steak
dinner with the finest champagnes-- and he will pay for it with cold cash. 

Just thinking about New Orleans 

Errol Laborde 

(504) 828-1380 ext 208 

elaborde at renaissancepublishingllc.com