Sixth congressman begins Abscam trial

By WITH ANALYSIS FROM MONITOR CORRESPONDENTS AROUND THE WORLD; EDITED BY RANDY SHIPP

January 6, 1981

New York

Rep. Raymond F. Lederer, accused of accepting a $50,000 bribe from a phony Arab sheikh, is the only congressman charged in the FBI's Abscam corruption investigation to have won reelection. The Philadelphia Democrat went on trial Monday on bribery and conspiracy charges in US District Court. He is the sixth congressman to be tried in the FBI's investigati on of political corruption.