WP--Congressman Tried to Hide Papers, Justice Dept. Says (Jefferson)

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001236.html

Congressman Tried to Hide Papers, Justice Dept. Says
Court Filing in Response to Jefferson Lawsuit Defends Raid

By Allan Lengel and Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A04

The Justice Department yesterday vigorously defended the recent weekend raid of Rep. William J. Jefferson's Capitol Hill office as part of a bribery investigation, asserting that the Democratic lawmaker attempted to hide documents from FBI agents while they were searching his New Orleans home last August.

The government questioned in a 34-page motion filed in U.S. District Court here whether it could have obtained all the materials it had sought in a subpoena if it had not launched the surprise raid on Jefferson's congressional office May 20. According to the government filing, an FBI agent caught Jefferson slipping documents into a blue bag in the living room of his New Orleans home during a search.

...................
Photo caption:
From left, law professor Charles Tiefer, constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein and former congressman Robert S. Walker confer before testifying at a House hearing at which the FBI raid of Rep. William J. Jefferson's office was criticized.
From left, law professor Charles Tiefer, constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein and former congressman Robert S. Walker confer before testifying at a House hearing at which the FBI raid of Rep. William J. Jefferson's office was criticized. (By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images)
..........

"It is my belief that when Congressman Jefferson placed documents into the blue bag, he was attempting to conceal documents that were relevant to the investigation," FBI agent Stacey E. Kent of New Orleans stated in an affidavit that was part of the government's court submission. The document was filed in response to Jefferson's lawsuit demanding that the government return to him documents seized during the raid on his Capitol Hill office 11 days ago.........


Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) said he wants Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to appear "up here to tell us how they reached the conclusion" to conduct the raid, which Sensenbrenner called "profoundly disturbing" on constitutional grounds. The chairman also said that his committee "will be working promptly" to draft legislation that would clearly prohibit wide-ranging searches of lawmakers' offices by federal officials pursuing criminal cases.......

[LeftHander]

1. I suppose with 45 days....Sensenbrenner can shread.....nt

[Fluffdaddy]

2. Jefferson's a crook.throw him under the bus.

Shit!, Here we are trying to take back our Nation from the Right wing lug-nuts starting in just 6 months. We don't need his kind craping up the waters and giving the Right Nut-jobs a opportunity to say "see them DEM's are just as rotten as we are".

Cut Jefferson loose now. He should resign for the good of the party

[Keefer]

3. Did you notice this in the article?

The chairman also said that his committee "will be working promptly" to draft legislation that would clearly prohibit wide-ranging searches of lawmakers' offices by federal officials pursuing criminal cases.

So they can't even search their offices in the pursuit of criminal cases? If this happens, we're done for.

[Benhurst]

4. Yeah, if the The Leader, during this time of great manufactured

tribulations, can't rifle through Congressional offices at will, BushAmerica is dead.

[Keefer]

5. It's more than that.

If this outrage is allowed to become law, our functioning, (barely), democracy is finished, NO MATTER WHO IS IN POWER.

[Benhurst]

7. And the Executive? Can Congress or the courts rifle through

the files at the White House at will? I think not. The separation of powers, at least in the days of the Republic before the Bush Crime Family seized power, prohibited such actions.

The Bush Crime Family is attempting to set up a dictatorship.

[Keefer]

8. I agree on some levels...

...but I don't think this is *'s idea. This is a corrupt congress trying to protect itself from us and I'm getting sick of it. :mad:

[GodlessBiker]

11. I agree. If a dead body were in a Congress member's office...

could the FBI get a warrant to search the office for the body?

I'm just shocked that they got a warrant.

[Jack113]

13. And the executive

Bush has always had in mind dictatorship. in his campaign for the 2000 election he stated " The job ahead would be much easier for a dictator to accomplish, as long as i'm the dictator." Bush also tried to get rid of "Posse Comatus" until our real military leaders warned him they were sworn to protect America from threats within as well as without. This was a big reason that so many of our real military leaders were fired and retired giving way to the blunering fools we have now for military leadership.

[CornField]

6. Still doesn't explain why they didn't let the Capital Police do the search

It's an overstep of authority and a very clear violation of our checks and balances.

[stepnw1f]

9. This is My Concern Now (nt)

[warrens]

10. They've got this guy on tape taking bribes and laughing about it

They've got $90,000 in marked bills they found in his freezer. Wanna tell me how vital these documents were to a prosecution?

This is intimidation of Congress, pure and simple.

[papau]

12. LA Times version)Congressman Could Challenge Federal Possession of Papers

Jefferson's demand that his documents be returned was filed in Federal Court last week, with the Dept of Justice filing a response (just say no to "sanctuaries" for illegal conduct)
on 5/30.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-jefferson31may31,0,513141.story?track=tottext

From the Los Angeles Times
Congressman Could Challenge Federal Possession of Papers
The Justice Department offers a concession to Jefferson and colleagues upset over a raid. An agent says the lawmaker tried to hide documents.
By Richard B. Schmitt
Times Staff Writer

May 31, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday proposed a way to calm the furor over the unprecedented search of Rep. William J. Jefferson's Capitol Hill office, but also disclosed evidence that the Louisiana Democrat tried to conceal documents during an earlier search.

Responding in court to a demand by Jefferson that documents seized in the office raid this month be returned, the department proposed a "procedural accommodation" that would give Jefferson a new chance to challenge whether prosecutors should have the documents.

Although it was unclear whether the proposal would be accepted, it was the first significant public concession by the department since the 18-hour search of Jefferson's office ignited a political firestorm.

The disclosure of the search has created the spectacle of the House leadership — Republicans and Democrats alike — siding with the target of a federal bribery investigation in the name of protecting congressional traditions and the doctrine of separation of powers.<snip>


The department proposed that it give copies of all seized documents to Jefferson and his lawyers. They would then be given an opportunity to raise objections about whether individual documents were properly seized. Any disagreements between the two sides would be resolved by a judge. <snip>