At times I am actually hoping for congress to implode in the months leading up to the fall elections. The latest hissy fit actually forces the President to step in, like the only adult at a playground brawl, and order a 45 day time out.
President Bush: Over the last several days, the House of Representatives and the Department of Justice have attempted to resolve a dispute over the execution of a search warrant on the Capitol Hill office of Congressman William Jefferson, who is under criminal investigation.It appears the only threat with real power to unite the Republicans and Democrats is a Justice Department patiently but persistently pursuing justice.
Washington Post: But the material for which agents searched had been under subpoena for eight months; Mr. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, resisted complying. Under those circumstances, seeking judicial approval for a search warrant is more reasonable.Perhaps there is an instinctual political survival reflex to hide behind the speech or debate privilege of the constitution. This historical concept exists to insure legislators are not subject to legal persecution for actions within the “legislative sphere”, but it does not provide sanctuary from criminal prosecution.
NRO Editorial: There should have been little for leaders of Congress to do but applaud. Instead, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader John Boehner led a chorus of disgruntled legislators in crying foul, closing ranks around an apparent felon, and raving incoherently about a supposed separation-of-powers violation.
FindLaw: In other words, it is the fact of having taken a bribe, not the act the bribe is intended to influence, which is the subject of the prosecution and the speech-or-debate clause interposes no obstacle to this type of prosecution.Poor little William “The Mark” Jefferson bought the pitch and was roped into the long con. Now the sucker is clinging to his little fiefdom with every ounce of strength and the all the other congressional fiefs completely understand.
The Pitch: While the name of the intended recipient of the US$100,000 is blacked out, other details in the affidavit indicate he is Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria's vice-president. He owns a home in Potomac, Maryland, that authorities have searched as part of the Jefferson investigation. Abubakar is widely expected to run for president in elections planned for 2007. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and the fifth-leading source of US oil imports.The rationale for term limits is as reasonable now as it was in 1994.
