Alabama candidate for the U.S. Senate Doug Jones worked for a Democratic politician’s foundation caught in a still-unraveling bribery scandal, according to a new report from local WHNT19 News.
The new report reveals information from Jones’s Senate ethics disclosure filings, which say he was paid as a lawyer for the Oliver Robinson Foundation. The foundation’s namesake has been reportedly embroiled in a bribery scandal that federal officials have said is not over yet.
Former state representative Robinson pleaded guilty this year to conspiracy, bribery, and honest services wire fraud. WHNT reported that Robinson took bribes “to encourage residents to oppose a federal cleanup of contaminated property in a low-income neighborhood in north Birmingham.”
Local ABC33 News reported that Robinson pledged to cooperate with federal authorities in an attempt to evade a 100-year sentence.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office has made it clear their investigation is ongoing,” the report stated.
Robinson signed a plea agreement in the case that stated that two lawyers paid the then-state legislator as part of the scheme and that the funds were funneled through the foundation, according to WHNT.
A statement from the Jones campaign to WHNT claimed that Jones “did not represent Oliver Robinson at the time he was charged” and directed questions to the then-attorney for the foundation, Richard Jaffe.
Democrat Jones is facing off against Judge Roy Moore in Alabama’s December election to fill the Senate seat formerly held by now-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana.
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