Mody e-mail to FBI agent asks for critique of 'show'

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- In an e-mail message to the lead FBI agent in the William Jefferson corruption case, government informant Lori Mody likens herself to a "star" awaiting reviews from the critics.

The Mody e-mail, dated May 13, 2005, was sent the day after she and Jefferson shared a $1,023 dinner in which conversations were secretly recorded by the FBI. The contents of the message were provided by defense attorneys as part of a brief filed Monday.

In the filing, Jefferson's attorneys ask Judge T.S. Ellis III for permission to play excerpts of tapes not being presented by the U.S. Justice Department in the former congressman's trial, which entered its ninth day of testimony Monday.

During the dinner, in which Jefferson's attorneys say "considerable amounts of wine" were consumed, Jefferson allegedly wrote on a piece of paper that he wanted an 18 percent to 20 percent share of a company Mody had created to develop a telecommunications project in Nigeria. The government has labeled that a bribe solicitation.

But Jefferson's attorneys said the request was made in return for Jefferson's work as a businessman, not as a member of Congress, and that it was Mody who pushed for him to take a larger share in her company -- evidence of which they say could be provided if larger segments of the conversations are played to the jury.

"I hope all is going well today," Mody, a Virginia businesswoman, says in the e-mail message to FBI agent Timothy Thibault. "I feel kind of like the star who gave a performance the night before and who is waiting to read the acclaimed critic's review. Will the show get a rave review or will the expert critics tear it to pieces? I am also anxious to confirm all the show's equipment was working and functioning as planned."...