Jefferson’s attorneys ask for change of venue

Lawyers for Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) Friday asked a federal judge to throw out the bribery charges against him and to change the venue from Northern Virginia to Washington, D.C.

The requests came amid a flurry of 14 motions Jefferson’s legal team filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

{mosads}In arguing for a change of venue, Jefferson’s lawyers maintain that D.C. is the “center of gravity” of the entire case, and that therefore it is the place where it should be tried. They also accused prosecutors of purposely choosing Northern Virginia over D.C. in an attempt to convene a jury with fewer minority members. The prosecutors asked the judge to order the Justice Department and the FBI to produce all of its internal memos concerning the choice of where to bring the indictment to ensure that race was not part of the decision.

The lawyers also repeated their argument that the bribery charges should be thrown out because Jefferson did not exchange something of value for an “official act,” as the bribery statute dictates.

“The indictment does not charge that Mr. Jefferson obtained any earmarks or appropriations, or that he worked to pass any legislation for the companies involved — the government only charges that he ‘used his position to promote business in which he had an interest,’” the lawyers wrote.

The legal team also maintained that the FBI took some documents it was not entitled to during its raid on Jefferson’s home and that the conspiracy, wire-fraud and other charges should be dismissed.