On the subject of the wailing and moaning on Capitol Hill over the FBI search of the office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., former GOP congressman John Kasich made a potent point Sunday on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos”: “This is why term limits are important. And I’ll tell you why. People lose touch. You live in Washington. Everybody tells you how great you are. You literally get in a bubble. And when I talk to a lot of my friends now, I literally can’t penetrate the bubble, because they don’t understand it.”
The former nine-termer from Ohio added: “This was the wrong fight to pick. You don’t pick a fight on whether you’re going to listen to my cell phone conversations or monitor who the heck I’m talking to, and you’re going to pick a constitutional fight on stopping somebody from going in and getting a guy that allegedly stole $90,000? It’s just — it’s out to lunch.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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6 Comments
I don’t think the raid of Congressman Jefferson’s office will hold up if enough members of both houses stand up and pass a veto-proof statute that illegalizes it, which Congress has the authority to pass.
Congress can also pass a law that empowers the Capitol police to raid the White House and Supreme Court justices’ offices.
If the Court rules that the Jefferson raid was lawful, then the Court cannot strike down quid-pro-quo White House and Court raids by Capitol police without committing an impeachible offense: Article III states that judges “shall hold their offices during good behavior,” and issuing self-contradictory rulings can be defined by the Congress to be not-good behavior. Judges don’t fall under the presidential-impeachment standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Issuing rulings that say the Congress’s offices can be raided, but the Executive and Court’s offices cannot is clearly bad behavior.
Today’s Sensenbrenner hearings’ legal experts pointed out that the Jefferson raiders indiscriminantly took documents, and would have read, without Bush’s 45-day sealing, that don’t include his alleged crimimal offenses. It isn’t within the executive branch’s purview to examine ALL Congressman Jefferson’s files, which the raid’s file-taking would have subjected the Congressman to.
As to Congressman Jefferson’s failure to comply with subpoenas, the legal experts pointed out, it is the House’s responsibility to examine ALL his files, if it chooses, to find incriminating criminal evidence. If the House declines to peruse all of his records, that’s just the way it goes. The Justice Department, whose only power is defined by the Congress, will just have to take the lawfully-obtainable evidence it can get. Two witnesses who testify against Mr. Jefferson and $90,000 in freezer-stored cash may be all that can be lawfully obtained.
One of the Judiciary Committee’s members, a former judge, also pointed out that the warrant-issuing judge’s instructions, were faulty, in failing to detail what the raiders could, and could not do, and in addition, his order to the Capitol police to step aside and allow the raiders access to Mr. Jefferson’s office, DID NOT INCLUDE the raiders’ locking the door to Mr. Jefferson’s office to prevent the police’s observation of what was going on.
So if the Supreme Court justices have any intelligence, which they all do, they will throw the warrant out, and any takings obtained. Or else any of them who vote for upholding the takings will be vulnerable to removal from office for not-good behavior at some future point.
Looks like William Jefferson (D) just got a lucky break. How nice!
I saw that hearing. A dog and pony show if there ever was one.
One word here. WARRANT. Ya know, what judges routinely issue to authorize searches? I know you’ve heard of them. That is exactly what exists to interpose between an overreaching executive and his target – a neutral and detached magistrate, issueing a warrant.
The “legal” case isn’t nearly so clear in Congress’ favor as you might think listening to that carefully selected panel. See http://www.orinkerr.com/ for starters. You’ll have to scroll down a ways.
To paraphrase Shakespeare – “The [members] doth protest too much, methinks!” I wonder what’s in their offices they are so concerned about? Hmmmm?
I’m all for raiding Jefferson’s office. If the executive can raid the Congressional, then the Congressional can raid the Executive.
Let’s go in and find out who leaked Valerie Plame’s name to Nofacts, who Cheney met with during his secret energy policy meetings, what was discussed when Abramoff and his convicted cronies greased palms in the Oval Office, why Pat Roberts won’t investigate misuse of Iraq so-called “intelligence.”
Raiding offices sounds like a damn good idea to me.
Tiahrt’s next.
Bring it, Lefty…let’s see whatcha got.
The Rudepundit nails the Repuke majority’s sudden pious concern for the, you know, whole ’separation of powers’ thingamajiggy.
Here’s one of the cleaner lines:
“Watching James Sensebrenner and other Republicans take a stand for rights, the Constitution, and the rule of law is a little like watching a Penn State fraternity take a stand against underage drinking and date rape.”
Now go read it. It’s SO rude.
rudepundit.blogspot.com