A freshly released arrest-warrant affidavit in the San Francisco City Hall “pay to play” case against three political insiders offers some interesting insights into the lengths to which federal investigators went in their search for public corruption.

The 61-page statement says the FBI wiretapped about 30,000 phone calls involving lobbyist and former school board President Keith Jackson and former state Sen. Leland Yee during the years-long investigation.

Both men subsequently pleaded to federal corruption charges and were sentenced to prison terms of nine years and five years, respectively.

Now, Jackson — along with former city Human Rights Commission member Nazly Mohajer and commission staffer Zula Jones — have been charged by San Francisco prosecutors with laundering $20,000 in political donations to retire Mayor Ed Lee’s debt from the 2011 campaign in exchange for the promise of political favors.

In one recorded meeting, Jones boasted to undercover agents about her ability to deliver such favors, if the money was right.

“We eat, sleep money in this town,” Jones was recorded as saying, according to the affidavit. “We go to bed, we dream about money. ... We wake up, we dream about money.

“Here there’s no limit, if you got the right hookup,” Jones is quoted as saying.

Curiously, about the only thing the feds didn’t capture on tape was the meeting where Jones and her cohorts introduced the mayor to the FBI agents who were posing as businessmen looking to build senior and low-income housing.

Instead, there are only the agent’s recollections of the meeting, which have the mayor saying little and making no commitments.

“Everything about this case is strange,” said Jones’ attorney, John Keker, who insists his client is innocent.

But then, he said, it might be to the prosecutors’ benefit that there’s no recording with Lee’s voice on it.

“There’s a lot more flexibility in describing what happened in a conversation if you didn’t tape it,” said Keker — who adds that he’s convinced the mayor did nothing wrong.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross