FBI's Saturday night Capitol Hill raid raises alarms

[The Straight Story]

FBI's Saturday night Capitol Hill raid raises alarms

By Susan Davis, CongressDaily
The unprecedented FBI raid Saturday night of the Rayburn House Office Building office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., has stoked tempers on Capitol Hill as some past and present lawmakers and legal experts criticized the Justice Department's actions.

"There is no excuse for the FBI for the first time in history searching a congressional office and apparently doing so in total regard of due process as it relates to the legislative branch," former Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., wrote Sunday night in an e-mail to several members and aides obtained by CongressDaily. Gingrich was particularly critical of what he described as the executive branch trampling constitutional lines of authority.

"The president should respond accordingly and should discipline (probably fire) whoever exhibited this extraordinary violation," he wrote. "The protection of the legislative branch from the executive branch's policing powers is a fundamental principle which goes all the way back to the English Civil War," he added, describing the incident as "the most blatant violation of the constitutional separation of powers in my lifetime."

House officials were given short notice of the FBI's intentions Saturday, and neither Jefferson's attorney, Robert Trout, nor the general counsel of the House were allowed to monitor the search, according to the Associated Press. "The government's actions in obtaining a search warrant to search the offices of a United States congressman were outrageous," Trout said in a statement, according to AP. "There were no exigent circumstances necessitating this action."

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34132&dcn=todaysnews
Edited to add link

[shoelace414]

1. how do you like the unitary executive now?

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. Doesn't Matter ; Mission Accomplished

We now have a Bi-Partisan Scandal

[madmusic]

3. Translation:

They are worried it will backfire on them and it will look like BushCo/Rove instigated it in the War on Corruption (not theirs, the Dems, that is). Of course, that it WAS a PR move doesn't matter.

[babylonsister]

4. My main question; Jefferson's money in the frig, etc., was found

over a year ago. Why hasn't or wasn't it dealt with until now?

[LA lady]

5. turncoats

Two of his associates turned against him this month and agreed to testify

[babylonsister]

8. So, they knew he was dirty, had video, had turncoats, but didn't

'out' him until today? Bullshit. If they had the money and the audio/video, why wasn't he indicted?

[suffragette]

14. I've been wondering the same thing, babylonsister

It seems odd that they would have all that "proof" yet wait until now.

[dogday]

24. And if they already had all this

evidence? Why search the office at the capitol.. They have more than enough to make a case....There is a concentrated effort in the M$M to make this the story du jour....

[suffragette]

30. Great point

Particularly since this was unprecedented. They haven't searched any offices connected to the Abramoff corruption case. But boy, what a media glare on this. "Story du jour" You nailed it.

[enough already]

25. This is a setup

I don't believe for a second that Jefferson did this. This has Rove written all over it.

[Justice]

20. What a minute - the money was found in the fridge a YEAR AGO

what rock have I been under - I did not know this. Is that true

[keopeli]

36. The "sting" was July of 05; they found the cold cash 4 days later. n/t

[Garbo 2004]

6. Ha, that's rich. I'm sure the search was "reasonable" Newt, isn't that

the standard for searches these days?

And newsflash, Newt, that "separation of powers" thing? It's old and "quaint" and not applicable in a time of war. Yeah, that's it. Remember Newt, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.

[bleever]

7. Time to triangulate.

Have republicans stake out both sides of this "unitary executive" and "balance of powers" conflict that the neocons have brought on.

Get "statesmen" like Newt to exact concessions from the administration, and prove that it's really the Repugs who can be trusted to safeguard the Constitution.


Been there, done that.


ed:grammar

[WatchWhatISay]

12. Ding Ding Ding! You win the prize

That's it in a nutshell. This whole thing smells, he's being implicated in the media. Wether he's guilty or not won't really matter by the time they get through with him.

And yes, as they are most likely directing these unconstitutional searches to be carried out, they protest too much!

[lindisfarne]

15. In addition, the repugs retain their ability to object to dems doing the

same thing to them under future Dem executives, because they objected when a repug was doing it.

[Kolesar]

17. So that's what "triangulate" means! . .. ...eom... .. .

[donco6]

38. OH yeah, they're lining up sides over drinks right now.

You can bet yer life on that.

[linazelle]

9. You know this is total bullshit when Gingrich is taking up for a Dem. nt

[Doctor_J]

10. GOP don't have anything to worry about

there won't be any raids on their offices.

[gratuitous]

23. Unless, of course, they start getting uppity

The ersatz "outrage" being expressed by Hastert might as well have a sweatshop label on it, as manufactured as it is.

Although I suppose one or two Republican congress critters might actually be drawing a line in what passes for their minds: If they can do that to so-and-so, what's to stop them from doing it to me? But another round of swell cocktail parties, another pay raise, and they won't worry their pretty little heads about it anymore.

[librechik]

11. so, congresscritters, still think comparisons to Nazis ridiculous?

surely you, at least some of you, remember a little history.

See ya in Gitmo--

[987654321]

13. Oh shit

This is the third time in the last year that I have actually agreed with something Gingrich has said. You know you're doing something really bad when someone like Newt looks like he has more integrity than you.

[burythehatchet]

16. that's funny

:rofl:

[intheflow]

18. My thought, too.

When we the people have to hear about such shit from the likes of Gingrich, we really have stepped into the Twilight Zone.

[The Straight Story]

32. I think I know what he fears -

Dems are coming back into power, and the rethugs will be getting hammered by dems, so they want to be able to say "hey, I didn't think it was right when X was done to Y when we were in power, I still don't think it's fair..." etc and so on...

[987654321]

34. I agree

It's all about political posturing for the future.

[madrchsod]

19. denny is also really pissed off

i guess denny wasn`t informed either..well that`s his guys in the whitehouse...

[KoKo]

21. If House Leaders Pelosi and Hoyer were notified why didn't they

protest immediately by standing in front of the office if necessary and if necessary going to jail over this.

This is another assault on the Consitition. Why are they so afraid of confonting Bush on this? Why was it left to Gingrich? They were afraid of calling attention to Jefferson rather than calling attention to the Constitution?

[IceOwl]

22. Watergate Part Deux

Seriously. History should never repeat itself so exactly.

[bigluckyfeet]

33. Can You See

The FBI raiding the * white house,I don't think so.

[Supersedeas]

26. the executive branch trampling constitutional lines--no way...and odd

how the FBI did not storm into the WH to obtain the Plame related documents.

[DirtyDawg]

27. This has got to be played...

...for what it is. Yet another example of the deceit and arrogance of the disaster of an administration and it's henchmen in the history of our country. Did they search Duke Cunningham's office? Did the search Tom Delay's? The only time they decided to go forward with an ethics effort in the House is after they had a Democrat that they could push out front while they white-washed their repig buddy.

By the time we get to November, the voters need to be convinced that the only way to regain some semblance of pride in our government is to turn the repig bastards out and get an entire new leadership in Congress...then we'll see just how vile this bunch has truly been.

[LuckyLib]

28. My sentiments exactly. We didn't see any midnight raid on Tom

DeLay's offices, now did we? This whole things smells. Too bad there aren't any real reporters out there to dig out the truth.

[Scout1071]

29. kick

[Up2Late]

31. And let's NOT forget, The "news" media jumped on this! Contrast that...

...to the "...let's wait and see if they did anything wrong..." way they have handled every other Republican scandal.

And The ReTuglican slander machine was all ready with "experts" to say "This will make it very difficult for Democrats to push their "Culture of Corruption" campaign.

NPR had Political Science Professor Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College to put forward that message. :mad:

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5423211>

I think this is the guy: <http://academic.claremontmckenna.edu/faculty/profile.asp?Fac=66>

Check out the books he authored!

* The Art of Political Warfare (University of Oklahoma Press, 2000)
* Congress' Permanent Minority? Republicans in the US House (Rowman and Littlefield, 1994). With William F. Connelly, Jr.

[Alcibiades]

40. I was shocked

to hear this nutjob who poses as a political scientist on NPR. Seriously, this guy should be on talk radio, not in academia. At least left-wing profs pretend objectivity!

BTW, you don't need to read this yahoo's C.V. to know where he's coming from. All you need to know is that he is at Claremont McKenna College, whose main purpose for being is to give reactionary hacks professorships so they can be free to propagandize. Pitney is typical--he publishes more in journals of opinion than he does in actual peer-reviewed journals.

[Vinca]

35. You have to admit, it's been kind of amusing watching the

Republican reaction to the search. Wasn't Frist supposedly day trading out of his office using lobbyists and staff? Maybe he's worried his office is up next. Or maybe the offices of those with Abramoff connections.

[AnnieBW]

37. Amazing...

Repukes are standing up for Rep. Jefferson's rights while our Dem leaders say NOTHING! Our Maryland primary is in two weeks. I'm abstaining from voting for Steny Hoyer, who is my Rep. Frelling DINO...

[Thorn]

39. It's the precedent that's scary.

There have been too many precedents set during this administration in regards to law and security. This is just another event supporting the police state that appears to be emerging. They believe they are above the law.
In this case, I believe the President is FBI Director Mueller’s boss, or maybe there has been an intelligence czar inserted somewhere in that chain of command. Either way, it seems too obvious to believe that this would have occurred for political purposes? Did Bushco have a meeting the other day and decide now was the time to make this happen? How many others were caught in the "sting"? How many others were targeted and who might they have been?
btw, I've lurked long enough! Greetings.