Posted on 05/28/2006 6:35:29 AM PDT by MNJohnnie
WASHINGTON — The constitutional showdown that followed the FBI's search of a congressman's office came down to this: The House threatened budgetary retaliation against the Justice Department. Justice officials raised the prospect of resigning.
That scenario, as described Saturday by a senior administration official, set the stage for President Bush's intervention into the fight over the FBI's search of the office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., an eight-term lawmaker being investigated on bribery allegations.
During contentious conversations between the Department of Justice and the House, top law enforcement officials indicated that they'd rather quit than return documents FBI agents, armed with a warrant, seized in an overnight search of Jefferson's office, the administration official said.
Until last Saturday night, no such warrant had ever been used to search a lawmaker's office in the 219-year history of the Congress. FBI agents carted away records in their pursuit of evidence that Jefferson accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for helping set up business deals in Africa.
After the raid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, lodged a protest directly with Bush, demanding that the FBI return the materials. Bush struck a compromise Thursday, ordering that the documents be sealed for 45 days until congressional leaders and the Justice Department agree on what to do with them.
(Story continues below)
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Oh my god...this is bigger than we think.
Agree completely. We need names.
I don't care what letter is after their names.
Cap....there is something going on...bigger than we are being told. For this threat to be made is off the scale.
It's been a very long time since I've seen principle like this in government. These guys deserve serious public plaudit.
I saw last night, that the documents siezed had been asked for in a subpoena for over nine months. Jefferson was refusing to turn them over.
Isn't this shocking? Spying on the little guy, without a warrant, is okay. Spying or searching Congress, even with a warrant, is NOT okay.
Huge disconnect.
Our Republicans have lost their way. 100%.
Give us their name.
The House threaten to cut off funds???
bttt
Someone alluded to doing it....
That's my take too.
Imagine if the Executive had threatened to withhold/veto funding from a Congressional investigation .
The furor would know no bounds.
This will get more interesting as more is learned.
This scenario is ugly, and frightening in the implications..what is GOING ON in Washington?
Good question...
I want names
BASTARDS!! Holding out money to get what they want.....BRIBERY in reverse, but just as bad!!!!!
For gosh sake, there is no spying on the little guy, unless by little guy you mean ISLAMOFACISTS!
Clear case of obstruction of justice, intimidation and extortion
Elites are taking over politics.
They don't care about crime in the country because they live in gated communities, have drivers, don't take public transportation, shop with the great unwashed masses, etc.
They don't care about the shape of our schools and the radical gay leftist agenda being taught in our kindergardens (The King and the King - a love story) because THEIR kids go to private schools.
They don't care whether innocent Americans accidentally get spied on. They just care if they get searched even with a warrant.
It's the biggest disconnect I've ever seen between Republicans and their constituency and it will destroy the country, imo.
Who's doing that?
I'm a supporter of the NSA programs. However, there is absolutely no guarantee that innocent Americans haven't been spied on. None.
Without court (FISA) oversight, we have only NSA's guarantee. There could easily be an innocent American in contact with a Muslim abroad and warrantless wiretapping going on.
What I don't get is why Republicans in Congress don't understand how absolutely hypocritical this makes them look.
Get a grip!! Yeah, they are listening to Aunt Blabby telling little Sally about her cornbread recipe! Get real.
The fact that William Jefferson (Democrat, Louisiana) was working his shady deal with Nigeria brings two words to my mind:
yellow cake.
Agree completely, apparently our Congress Critters are in a panic that we might want to examine their influence peddling too closely. This could get ugly.
Link not bringing up the story. Heard on another thread that Gonzalez threatened to resign. Finally, a vertebrate!!
You have a problem with reading comprehension?
Until William Jefferson, D-LA, no Congressman was caught on tape taking a bribe.
Ha, ha, ha...congress cut funding. That's a good one. Not a one in congress knows how to do that.
Throw all of them out and start over (I know we'll get rid of the 3-5 that are worth keeping, but I'll take that trade).
Yes, I have read/heard this, but only in passing, not as the headline.
Was ignoring the subpeona a calculated risk on Jefferson's part? Did he really think that as a Black Caucus member he could get away with that? Did he have any reassurances from his leadership? Or was it just his interpretation of Congressional immunity?
How deep does this go, I wonder?
Abscan and other scandals were investigated and searches conducted but Congressmen cooperated once they knew there was a subpoena.
Jefferson refused to cooperate.
Yes, congress is declaring itself to be above the law, while meddling in things which are not their affair.
Is this a bloodless coup? The second phase of Clinton's hopes to create a Soviet utopia here? Maybe it's a lack of enough caffeine, but this is making me bit nervous.
Fox website is messed up.
Your spied on everyday! From your web search engine, to your boss at work, to the red light cameras, to the TSA at the airport that suspects everyone is a terrorist....unless they wear a turban or have Mohammad in their name. Welcome to 1984....22 years late.
What's the deal with Hastert? Why is he so animated about this? What personal stake does he have in this? Any rumors that he's involved? Or any of his colleagues?
Exactly. Eschelon. Carnivore. Cameras. Employer web site tracking. It's a looong list.
Things that make you go "Hmmmmmm"....
The same stuff that's been going on in Washington since FDR turned the country sharply to the left. It's been going on to a much greater extent since the flunkie anti-Vietnam commies got in positions of power.
This will be interesting, and I hope that a great number of politicians get taken down. Hopefully, mostly on the left, but if they are crooked, they need to be taken down regardless of party.
Now I'll go one better: DoJ will withhold PROTECTION of their sorry skins if congress withholds FUNDING.
You almost have it...add in selling state secrets to foreign governments...
Great! Then the President can refuse to provide federal security of any kind for House members, and stop all briefings of Congress on matters of defense or intelligence, both foreign and domestic. Bring it on you corrupt cossaks!
It would seem that this has never come up before because no Congressman had ever pushed it this far, by refusing to cooperate with a legitimate criminal investigation. I think this is because Jefferson knows that he can be a crook and still be reelected by using the race card.
Agreed 100%. Before I heard about the threat to withhold funding I respected and applauded their stand. Now that respect and applause are tripled.
They are full of it. In 1972 there was a court ruling(because of a similar case) that specifically states that the congress can be searched and the debate clause is not aimmunity clause. If this has never happened before why is there a court ruling that speicfically addresses the problem?
I'm a pretty optimistic gal by nature- but what I'm seeing now is truly beyond anything I can remember since the Viet Nam years. The disconnect is alarming.
What brought it into focus was hearing Rush discussing what McCain told a gathering of GOP fundraisers last week (paraphrasing)..that if it weren't for the likes of Rush, Lou Dobbs, etc..this bill would pass easily into law. What's SO sickening here- is that McCain does not realize that Rush, Dobbs etc are simply EDUCATING listeners to facts..facts McCain and his gang have obviously not WANTED the American public to know.
On Memorial Day weekend it seems we mourn our lost country as well as those lost in battle.
Bought himself another 45 days, at least.
Or should I say "Hastert provided for him"
After the raid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, lodged a protest directly with Bush, demanding that the FBI return the materials.
Hmmm, I wonder what the DemonRats have on Denny Hastert. His FBI file must've been interesting reading for Billary and the congressional DemonRat brass.
So according to Hastert, a Congressman under investigation can hide documents in his office?
An interesting tidbit for those who claim that the DOJ was "threatening the President" with resignations.
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