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Judge: FBI raid on lawmaker's office legal (Louisiana Democrat Rep. William Jefferson )
AP on Yahoo ^ | 7/10/06 | Toni Locy - ap

Posted on 07/10/2006 1:36:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON - An FBI raid on a Louisiana congressman's Capitol Hill office was legal, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said members of Congress are not above the law. He rejected requests from lawmakers and Democratic Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office.

In a 28-page opinion, Hogan dismissed arguments that the first-ever raid on a congressman's office violated the Constitution's protections against intimidation of elected officials.

"Congress' capacity to function effectively is not threatened by permitting congressional offices to be searched pursuant to validly issued search warrants," said Hogan, who had approved the FBI's request to conduct the overnight search of Jefferson's office.

Jefferson had sought the return of several computer hard drives, floppy disks and two boxes of paper documents that FBI agents seized during an 18-hour search of his Rayburn Building office.

At issue was a constitutional provision known as the speech and debate clause, which protects elected officials from being questioned by the president, a prosecutor or a plaintiff in a lawsuit about their legislative work.

"No one argues that the warrant executed upon Congressman Jefferson's office was not properly administered," Hogan wrote. "Therefore, there was no impermissible intrusion on the Legislature. The fact that some privileged material was incidentally captured by the search does not constitute an unlawful intrusion."

The raid on Jefferson's office angered members of Congress, some of whom threatened to retaliate by tinkering with the FBI and Justice Department budgets.

President Bush stepped in and ordered the solicitor general to take custody of the seized materials so Congress and the Justice Department could work out procedures to deal with similar situations in the future.

The president's 45-day "cooling off period" ended Sunday with no compromise worked out but with assurances from the Justice Department that it would not seek to regain custody of the materials until Hogan ruled on Jefferson's request.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: congress; corruption; fbi; govwatch; judge; judiciary; lawmaker; legal; office; raid; williamjefferson
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To: NormsRevenge

Imagine that. The senator is not above the law.


21 posted on 07/10/2006 2:07:36 PM PDT by Neoliberalnot
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To: Dog

It probably will - since they seem to be a little unclear on their duties! "Self enrichment" does not appear anywhere in the Constitution, alas.


22 posted on 07/10/2006 2:10:00 PM PDT by livius
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To: NormsRevenge

"The raid on Jefferson's office angered members of Congress, some of whom threatened to retaliate by tinkering with the FBI and Justice Department budgets."

How do we find out who the goons are who have "threatened to retaliate by tinkering with the FBI and Justice Department budgets"? A pox on all of their houses.


23 posted on 07/10/2006 2:14:54 PM PDT by Roberts
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To: Onelifetogive
most FReepers were steaming at Bush, saying this would drop out of the spotlight and not resurface between then and November. I argued that it was a good move and would most likely be as big as before, as a ruling would have to come out and it would possibly go to the SCOTUS.

it may be too early to tell, but I think some FReepers owe Mr. Bush an apology...

=P

24 posted on 07/10/2006 2:17:37 PM PDT by Zeppelin (You've been Zarqed !)
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To: Zeppelin
it may be too early to tell, but I think some FReepers owe Mr. Bush an apology...

Some freepers owe President Bush many apologies in each hour of the day because of the dumb statements they make about him.

25 posted on 07/10/2006 2:20:49 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: Roberts

The Rule of Law Wins! Whats happening over at Dummyland?


26 posted on 07/10/2006 2:22:03 PM PDT by True Republican Patriot
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To: JerseyDvl
I am pleasantly surprised that Senators are not above the common man's laws.

What they say is one thing, what they do is another.

27 posted on 07/10/2006 2:25:27 PM PDT by unixfox (The 13th Amendment Abolished Slavery, The 16th Amendment Reinstated It !)
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To: NormsRevenge

But! He`s a Democrate they cant do that. The horror of it all.


28 posted on 07/10/2006 2:25:57 PM PDT by bikerman
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To: NormsRevenge

Raid every one of them.


29 posted on 07/10/2006 2:26:53 PM PDT by doug from upland (Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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To: NormsRevenge
U.S. District Court Opinion -

In the Matter of the Search of: RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
Misc. No. 2006-0231
Memorandum Opinion issued July 10, 2006 by Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan
Order issued July 10, 2006 by Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan

30 posted on 07/10/2006 2:26:55 PM PDT by HAL9000 (Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
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To: HAL9000

Thanks for the links!


31 posted on 07/10/2006 2:28:06 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi --- Help the "Pendleton 8' and families -- http://www.freerepublic.com/~normsrevenge/)
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To: jveritas

absolutely right. and by the way jveritas, thanks a million for all that you do here. when's the next translation coming out? =)


32 posted on 07/10/2006 2:29:03 PM PDT by Zeppelin (You've been Zarqed !)
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To: Dog; livius

Better still hire Sandy Berger, he knows how to get rid of papers.

33 posted on 07/10/2006 2:29:52 PM PDT by Spunky ("Everyone has a freedom of choice, but not of consequences.")
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To: NormsRevenge

Now Nancy Pelosi and DENNIS HASTERT do the following:

Nancy: Shut your surgically altered mouth.

Denny: Shut your big, fat hog jowls you oinker.


34 posted on 07/10/2006 2:32:31 PM PDT by no dems (www.4condi.com)
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To: NormsRevenge
Jefferson had sought the return of several computer hard drives, floppy disks and two boxes of paper documents...

I'll just bet.

35 posted on 07/10/2006 2:33:02 PM PDT by NewYorker
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To: Zeppelin
Thank you my fellow freeper. I will post as soon as I find an important and interesting document to translate :)
36 posted on 07/10/2006 2:33:59 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: Spunky

And Sandy knows how not to get prosecuted - or at any rate, how to get off easy - when caught.


37 posted on 07/10/2006 2:39:11 PM PDT by livius
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To: NormsRevenge

Has there been power outages in Washington yet?


38 posted on 07/10/2006 2:40:10 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: NormsRevenge
I initially called Hastert's office and let him know that I thought he had lost all moral authority on any issue.

What a disgrace. These politicans forget they're working for us and not working to be part of the 'klub'.

39 posted on 07/10/2006 2:41:30 PM PDT by OldFriend (I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.....and My Heart to the Soldier Who Protects It.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
"Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said members of Congress are not above the law."

That'll come as a shock to Con-gress....

40 posted on 07/10/2006 2:42:56 PM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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