Posted on 05/27/2006 9:10:24 PM PDT by FairOpinion
How strong is the case against Louisiana's Rep. William Jefferson?
According to numerous press accounts, after videotaping Mr. Jefferson receiving a $100,000 bribe from an FBI informant, the government executed a search warrant of his home and found $90,000 of that money hidden in his freezer. In another case, a Kentucky businessman pleaded guilty to paying Mr. Jefferson $400,000 in bribes for official favors.
Based upon such compelling evidence and Mr. Jefferson's refusal to comply with a subpoena to surrender key documents for eight months, a federal judge issued the search warrant that was executed in the congressman's Capitol Hill office last weekend. The FBI took exceptional measures to ensure that no privileged documents would be surrendered to investigators, with any close calls being made by a federal judge.
The "Speech or Debate" clause is contained in Article I, Section 6, which provides that members of Congress "shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses... etc."
But as the Supreme Court observed in the 1972 case of U.S. v. Brewster, the clause was never intended to immunize corrupt legislators who violate felony bribery statutes--laws that have expressly applied to members of Congress for more than 150 years. In Brewster, the court noted the clause was not written "to make Members of Congress super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility," adding: "Taking a bribe is, obviously, no part of the legislative process or function; it is not a legislative act. It is not, by any conceivable interpretation, an act performed as a part of or even incidental to the role of a legislator."
Such behavior is therefore not protected by the Constitution.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
If Congressmen complain about having their offices searched, then let's take away their offices and make them carry their legislative papers around in wheeled luggage so they can ensure their Fourth Amendment protections. < /sarcasm>
-PJ
So who will be in charge if legislature gets demoted?
When the executive power gets upper hand it is not a republic anymore. It happened several times in the world history.
"...We all support the President and the DoJ on this issue..."
I DO NOT support Bush for sealing the evidence for 45 days!
Post of the Day
There hasn't been this much shredding going on since...............well,
I guess, since the First Felons were being investigated..............
They did have a court order and search warrant. If they ransacked the offices of Jefferson without either one, then there might be a strong case of siding with Congress on this one.
the contrast over Delay and this one is just overwhelming...
here they have a true criminal and he gets a pass you could say, caught by the FBI.
Delay on the other hand, was lynched over a few baseless allegations by a left lawyer..
The republics end when the people lose the concept of what a republic is about. Same with the monarchies.
Heraclitus said: "Nothing endures but change."
OK. "Honest Patriots" I'll buy that. It is 6 months from the elections, where are the Honest patriots and are they running? That was my point. I have been here through several elections on FR and it is always the same damn thing. 6 moths before the election we are still hearing about how the GOP is lost but, once again, there are NO candidates, no campaign, no anything but the same old tired bitching and moaning. That tells me that bitching and moaning is what ya'll prefer.
Superb decorum is always commendable on iys face.....but it can be disabling, also. Contrast Laura Ingraham or Ann Coulter with Cheri Jacobus. From my point of view, Cheri's message is always roght-on as the others, but she is so sweet and polite that she is ineffective, esp against lying, boisterous democrats and other commies.
Apparently corruption is rife in the congress, legislators are bribed, blackmailed or just part of the Washington elites and Washington gets to them. Then they build massive powerbases that make them unaccountable to the public.
Looks like the only answer I can find is involuntary term limits. An awful lot of boring work, but an activist committee could target the legislators that are up for election. If over two terms, the committee actively seeks and supports an opponent. Then the activists work for the new guy and get the other one out of office.
This would limit the corruption, the blackmail potential from secret files, the bribes and powerbases and alliances leading to actions that stab the conservatives in the back on each critical issue.
The only way no action taken is if the candidate is still responsive to the electorate, and is highly effective without all the baggage of the Washington setting.
There has to be something the voters can do. And, it would be impossible to get the congress to vote in term limits on themselves - they can only manage salary increases.
They don't have jurisdiction, while the Executive does, with the Judiciary's consent.
Congress has subpoena power, and they can call for Rove to testify. They have the power of the purse, which they reportedly threatened to use to defund the Justice Department. But there is no way that the Capitol Hill police would have gotten into the White House to search Rove's office.
So who's strawman is more ridiculous?
-PJ
What Bush did is irrelevant.
Jefferson is supposed to be indicted by a grand jury within 30-45 days anyway, before Bush even ordered the documents sealed.
ABLE DANGER had the ability to track alot of stuff beyond Ossama and the boys. If it was allowed to continue on and improve...in five years...every major corrupt figure in congress would have been identified. These senate staff's weren't stupid...they knew exactly how powerful this analysis was and where it would lead. There are numerous Saudi business who buy influence in the house and Senate...this would have easily been seen and commented on in debriefings.
great idea, but probably would be illegal during the critical timeframe just prior to the elections, compliments of McCain-Feingold CFR....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.