Last time I glanced through the constitution I missed the part where it said that holding public office puts you above the law. Jefferson was an accused felon the justice department had a legal warrant to search his office. End of story.

What's actually shocking here is that there has been no effort to censure or impeach him yet.

True, there is no formal "law" that prohibits the FBI from raiding congressional offices, but there is a 219-year precedent at stake.

What might be seen as a mere criminal matter became a much larger issue the moment that the agents opened the door.

And why - I am being rhetorical here - was this particular congressman chosen to be the test case for what is arguably an executive branch power grab? Certainly there have been plenty of Democrats, Republicans, Whigs, and Federalists - among other partisans - who have been guilty of equal or greater crimes.

I am all for throwing da bum in jail, if he indeed is guilty of the crimes for which he may be charged.

Actually, both Pelosi and Hastert are full of crap. The FBI had a warrant which means a court approved the search, so the separation of powers argument is bogus. Also the search was conducted to search for evidence of criminal activity. It was not conducted over a policy dispute where the separation of powers argument might make some sense.

It appears that Jefferson is a crook, and the justice department caught him red handed and is leaving no stone unturned in making sure justice is served, and somehow because of this President Bush is a bad guy. I don't get it, and I am no fan of the president.

Look at this fella, assimilated into Blogcritics. I knew it was only a matter of time.

Welcome to the camp, Mike.

MB, this particular congressman was targeted because he's crooked as the day is long. And BTW, he's hardly being singled out for persecution here. In recent memory I can think of Tom Delay, James Traficant and Jim Wright, all of whom were indicted while in office. In fact, Traficant is still serving part of the sentence for his 10 felony convictions in a federal psychiatric prison.

What astonished me here is that we've got 3 posts on the Jefferson affair within 24 hours. Is there no more interesting news to report on? This is a sordid, but ultimately trivial affair, so typical of the causes the democrats keep trying to make into something more than they really are.

Dave

Why is raiding a congressman's office more invasive than raiding his home? I'm not trying to be an apologist for the administration, I just don't understand the specific egregiousness here.

He was caught red handed and I will make popcorn and miss my kidney operation in order to hear him try and spin this. Video..audio..witnesses,wrapped 90,000 hidden inside food containers inside a freezer..how much intrest does that make? This isn't a case of any precedent being broken, that is the smoke screen by other politicians that don't want to be the next Jefferson. They should be scared. That is what the executive branch is supposed to do and they did it legally.
Hats off to our law efforcement agencies. Good job.

What a load of crap! Sorry Michael, but this is as blunt as it gets, he is a scumbag, and no amount of Lawmakers whining to the press can ever rationalize not being answerable to the law. Dem or Repub, a rat is a rat is a rat, even from New Orleans.

lumpy: "What's actually shocking here is that there has been no effort to censure or impeach him yet."

You can't be serious! If we start with congressmen, who knows where it will end?

Jefferson may be a rat, sleaze, or scumbag, but why was this particular congressman singled out for this unprecedented search?

What is at stake here - and at least Pelosi and Hastert recognize this - is the continued eroison of traditional powers of the legislative branch. Set aside your anger at what appears to be Jefferson's corruption, and consider the rise of the imperial presidency.

Presidents - Democtratic and Republican - do not even bother to get Congress to declare war any longer, even though this power is expressly reserved for Congress in the Constitution.

Congress, over the last 100 years, has increasingly become a lapdog for sitting Presidents. Americans concerned about the rule of law should be disturbed by the steady decline in the power of the federal legislature.

If his face was of a different color, I don't think they would nearly hit him as hard as they are.

I wonder...when you drive on any govt installation there are always signs that say vehicles and persons entering are subject to search. Do you suppose that's the way it might be on capitol hill? They are after all...govt buildings.

Just a thought...

Dave already answered the why, this guy is not a stranger to scandal and/or misuse of power. He was involved in a post Katrina spin of power abuse, and all that aside, just because no one before has aquired such a subpoena only lends to the fact that Congress is more criminally liable now than before.

What, do you think these guys deserve "diplomatic immunity?" Read my post today when it finds it's way out of edit, you will find some answers there as well as a more poignant way to view this, at least I believe so. Look for "Hastert and others run to aid....."

If his face was of a different color, I don't think they would nearly hit him as hard as they are.

So true, if he was white like Tom Delay or James Traficant no one would dare to prosecute him.

BTW, you're completely full of crap.

Dave

There is no erosion of the separation of powers. the guy was a criminal. A warrant was obtained to search his office as their was reason to believe that his office contained evidence of his criminal activity.

This had noting to do with policy or his voting record. It was criminal activity that was being investigated. Are you seriously saying that a congressman or senator can engage in criminal activity in his office but that his office cannot be searched?

Ok, they got him on a 100k bribery sting.
I believe that the complaint against him involved much more $ and over a period of time.
If he was found to be a crook, do they (FBI etc) not have the right and "duty" to flush out the evidence of the other allegations against him?
I hope that he does not succeed in hiding behind his office.

Well; the first thing I looked for was the race of the man. He had to be Black. White guys just don't do each other like that and get away with it. They are more courteous to one another. It's easy to treat a Black man like a blatant criminal. White guys make effort to protect each others families and interests, they might strongly ask a fellow corrupt colleague to confess, place extreme pressure, or find a face saving way for the fellow to face up to it. They won't raid his home, office. There are plenty more corrupt white guys on Capitol Hill, then the handful of Blacks. In this case, no one will really care about this man, his family, life and respect. The American public just does not respect Black men like that. So he is the perfect throw away example. Congress gets the message, the administration takes more power and diverts our attention from the "real" issues once again, the American public says the hell with him, Black men are no matter any way... and the administration has its precedent. It can intimidate congress and take away the voice and power of the American people. I know that many of you opinionated white guys have much to say about how wrong I am, but think about it.

What a crock of shit, right there in "Black and White", get a life and go do the million man march or something, this guy let Black people suffer and even die in New Orleans while he rescued an f'ing laptop, don't even draw the race card because this guiy ain't Black, He is plain simple Yellow!

Signed,
Opinionated White Guy.

Get my comment Paul. I did not justify his actions, or even throw race as a defense. He is wrong, and should be convicted for his crimes. "Get a life and go do the million man march or something"... just what I imagined you would say. There is a bigger picture at work in our country and opinionated white guys are a tool in the mix. The Masters dogs. When the government made the appeal to the white male psyche and demonized the Mexicans for illegally immigrating to this country, who did he attack, his buddies in the government, or the corporations he works for?, noooooooo... why would he do that, "never bite the hand that feeds you" He instead jumped on the Mexicans, a bought into the set-up, the diversion. He beat up Mexicans, burned their homes and businesses, spent endless hours talking about how this country has gone to hell because of them and others he does not like. He wants to throw all of the Mexicans out, but not corect his buddy for keeping the border so pourous. Well... once again, that's what makes it so easy to do this to William Jefferson. They deliberately decided not to serve him a subpoena, or simply and quietly bring him in for questioning with respect to the evidence gathered by the FBI. They would not have done that to Senator McCaine, Feingold, or any of those guys. It would have hit the press, but the ripple would have been quieter, they would have been treated more respectfully, don't you think?. That's all. Race plays a role in politics, and we are NOT a color blind society, and race is and can be used politically, this is nothing new, It's a tool that can be used creatively. Thank you for proving me right, Mr. Smart Aleck White Boy. :-). You and your brothers are just as blind as ever. See you at the next Million Man March, a good walk would give you time to think and see this thing as it is. Not as you have been told it should be.

It's iteresting that leaders of the House used a very streached interpretation of the consitution to defend their offices against siezure, but ignore the blatent constitutional issues posed by the wiretapping done by the Bush administration. You had better be sure that there are constitutional issues at play, but they are looking in the wrong place! Corrupt politicians should be subject to investigation as any other citizen. The Jefferson search does NOT bring up separation of powers issues because the search warrant involved actions by the two other branches ov governement, the executive branch and the judicial branch. The legislature is loosing power alright, but it's of its own doing. The power of impeachment is in the realm of the legislature. They impeached Clinton for lying about a blow job, but can't seem to find the energy to initiate proceeding against Bush for a blatent violation of the constitution. It's clear that the legislature is more concerned with getting re-elected so that they can get their bribe money than serving the poeple of the United States of America.

Middle/Widdle/Whatever. Did you miss my earlier semi-subtle references to the wealth of white lawmakers brought down for corruption in the last decade. Jefferson is interesting more because he's one of the very few Black politicians being prosecuted. All the others I can think of are white, and they aren't getting a lot of respect. Just to mention the most recent - Abramoff, Cunningham, Delay, Traficant. All white, both parties.

Dave

where's the indignation over the FBI determining Hillary Clinton refused to report more than $1.2 million contributed by Peter Paul to her 2000 Senate campaign, and the Justice Department refused to charge her- while indicting a low level functionary for the false reports later admitted by his superior, her treasurer, in a December, 2005 FEC settlement? The Law applied to Hillary is non existant.