FBI Sting Targeted Louisiana Lawmaker

Jefferson is well known to Washington lobbyists because of his seat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and his business-friendly views. Operatives in both parties said the investigation could have implications for next year's midterm elections because it could complicate Democratic efforts to paint the GOP as scandal-plagued.

Democrats have raised ethical questions about House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and several other Republican leaders, suggesting the GOP might be weak in the 2006 elections.

"This gives Republicans more fodder to muddy the water," said a Democratic leadership aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Now, they can throw ethics back in our face."

Jefferson represents a solidly Democratic seat, and several officials who have looked into the matter said they think Jefferson will run again even if he is indicted, in part because he has weathered past charges.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune suggested in an article that Jefferson was entering "a political limbo of unknown duration."

"It's a big deal. Just about everyone I know is talking about it," said Edward F. Renwick, director of Loyola University Institute of Politics in New Orleans. "This came as a great shock."

In 1990, Jefferson became the first African American to be elected to Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction.

A day after his election, the Resolution Trust Corp., which was given the task of cleaning up the savings and loan scandal, sued Jefferson to recover a six-figure loan. Jefferson said in 1994 that he had settled the loan.

In January 1991, a civil court judge ordered Jefferson and a group of partners to pay $67,000 due on a mortgage on which they had stopped making payments.

In the early 1990s, Jefferson's properties also became a subject of public scrutiny. Jefferson Parish (county), a suburb of New Orleans, filed lawsuits against Jefferson for failing to properly maintain two dilapidated apartment buildings and threatened to raze two others if they were not repaired. Jefferson hired a management firm to make the repairs.

In the House, Jefferson has demonstrated what colleagues have described as impressive political skills and has a moderate voting record among Democrats. He is a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and serves on its trade subcommittee.

After the 2002 election, he made an unsuccessful bid to become chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with backing from the Congressional Black Caucus.

Jefferson also serves on the Budget Committee and is co-chair of the Africa Trade and Investment Caucus and the Congressional Caucuses on Brazil and Nigeria.

Randall Eliason, former chief in Washington of the U.S. attorney's unit on public corruption and government fraud, said: "You don't want to initiate an investigation into someone as important as a congressman unless you feel very confident.

"Everything you do is going to be scrutinized under a microscope, and you're going to have the best legal talent available fighting you every step of the way," said Eliason, who teaches at American University and George Washington University law schools.

Staff writer Mike Allen and researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.