ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- Monday will mark Day 12 of the corruption trial of former Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans. The prosecution at the U.S. District Court has been methodically laying out the ways in which the Justice Department says the former congressman illegally used his office to promote business deals he hoped would enrich his family. But occasionally the jury also gets a look at the more ordinary -- and legal -- ways in which powerful lawmakers and powerful business interests look out for one another. That was the case last week with the testimony of Bill Oliver, president of AT&T Louisiana and before that BellSouth Louisiana, which in 2006 merged with AT&T.
