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?
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.