It really warms the heart of the average American voter to know that when the going gets rough we can rely on our national elected leaders to join hands to work together to resolve an issue of national importance.
Just one such example occurred this week. Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana is alleged to have accepted bribes totaling one hundred thousand dollars from an FBI informant for the benefit Nigerian Vice President Abubakar Atiku (Atiku denies any connection). Apparently Congressman Jefferson wasn't very careful since the event is reported to have be recorded on video tape and 90 thousand dollars of the suspect cash was later found in his freezer at home.
The result of these allegations was that the FBI went to court and received permission to search Congressman Jefferson's office on capitol hill. Early on it was not reported that FBI had a 100 page document detailing the issues in the warrant. It also was not admitted or reported that the FBI was with in its jurisdiction to conduct such a search.
Instead what received the most notice was the congressional outrage over the breach of seperation of powers. How dare they FBI run up there and offend congress! If they can search the offices of one alleged felon what would prevent them from actually going after a few more?
The mere thought of this was enough to bring Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Hastert together in an unusual show of unity. They weren't outraged over the fact that a bald face thief might have been in their ranks. They were more concerned that protocols be developed so that other thieves might have more protection in the future. Read this excerpt from a USA Today editorial by house Speaker Dennis Hastert. Hastert said he and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., "have directed House lawyers to develop reasonable protocols and procedures that will make it possible for the FBI to go into congressional offices to constitutionally execute a search warrant."
Protocols is a fancy way to say that congress wants the FBI to first inform congressional leaders of their intentions and then have the agents cover their eyes, count to a thousand and shout "ready or not here we come" before they have the temerity to search an alleged crminal's office.
A good deal of press coverage during the week focused on the fact that this was the first time in 200 plus years that a congressional office had been searched and that some how the FBI had broken some sort of new ground and violated a sacred rule by seizing documents from Jefferson's office. Pelosi and Hastert accused the justice department of violating the principle of separation of powers, as well as the speech or debate clause of the U.S. Constitution, which provides immunity to lawmakers, while they are engaged in legislative acts. (This apparently is the same rule an allegedly drunken congressman Kennedy invoked when he stumbled from his car following a crash in Washington last month).
Despite the fact that President Bush kowtowed to congressional leaders by impounding all the Jefferson documents, it was reported Friday that not only did the FBI have the legal right to do what they did but in fact they were almost dared to do it by Jefferson himself.
Apparently Jefferson has been pursued on this subject for over 8 months and had been ignoring requests by the FBI to turn over specific information relative to the allegations against him. I guess the lesson here is that you can only thumb your nose at the FBI for 8 months when your a congressman. One can only wonder how much of that 8 months of courtesy would be extended to you or I had we been videotaped accepting a hundred grand in bribes.
How is Congressman Jefferson holding up as the center of a constitutional brouhaha?
He has responded in a way that only a denizen of Washington can fully appreciate and understand. "I expect to continue to represent the people who have sent me here," Jefferson said during a appearance before reporters. "This will not retard my capacity to continue to work for the people I represent." There is no word yet as to when Rev. Jesse Jackson will be issuing a statement in support of Congressman Jefferson and accusing the FBI of racism.
