Congress takes a stand
Representative William Jefferson (LA) graced this blog last September when I remarked on his use of military resources to retrieve personal items from his home during the aftermath of Katrina. Now I realize that he probably just needed to get something out of the freezer.
Mr. Jefferson is back in the news. He has performed a near miracle by providing the Congress a truly bipartisan mandate: to establish as a point of law that members of Congress are above the law.
Congressional leaders from both parties remain upset over Saturday night’s raid by the FBI on the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) in the Rayburn House Office Building, fearing that it sets a troubling precedent for future investigations of sitting lawmakers. Top lawyers from both chambers are scrambling to come up with a response to the unprecedented operation by the Justice Department.
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert rose to the defense of Congressional privilege.
The Founding Fathers were very careful to establish in the Constitution a Separation of Powers to protect Americans against the tyranny of any one branch of government. They were particularly concerned about limiting the power of the Executive Branch. Every Congressional Office contains certain Legislative Branch documents that are protected by the Constitution [especially fat wads of currency, Ed.]. This protection-as the Supreme Court has repeatedly held-is essential to guarantee the independence of the Legislative Branch. No matter how routine and non-controversial any individual Legislative Branch document might be, the principles of Separation of Powers, the independence of the Legislative Branch, and the protections afforded by the Speech or Debate clause of the Constitution must be respected in order to prevent overreaching and abuse of power by the Executive Branch.
You see, it is perfectly permissible for paramiltary SWAT teams to break into a citizen’s home in the middle of the night on the word of a paid informant. Sure, they will wreck the house, terrorize the inhabitants, kill the dogs, and maybe even mutilate or kill the occupants. Hey, can’t make omelets without breaking some eggs. People cannot expect privacy in their own homes. It’s not as if the Constitution asserts some penumbral right to be secure from unreasonable searches.
But damn, FBI agents with a federal warrant backed by videotape can’t search a Congressional office. You have to draw the Constitutional line somewhere.
Posted on May 24th, 2006 by pwyll
Filed under: politics
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I’m so bloody sick of this nonsense… There is absolutely no excuse for this “We are above the law” garbage.