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posted in Corruption by themaiden |The formula with some people seems to be ‘Investigation’ == ‘Anything Goes’. This time it is Matt Margolis, who writes:
I’m starting to get concerned that William Jefferson, like so many other Democrats, will get away with his corruption.
Blogs for Bush: The White House Of The Blogosphere: Bull S**t
Ignoring the supreme irony of a Bush supporter complaining of corruption, what is Margolis talking about? Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson’s office was raided by the FBI in the course of a corruption investigation. However, ‘the FBI violated the Constitution by reviewing legislative documents‘ in the course of that investigation. Margolis is annoyed. “Sigh… another Dem is going to get away with corruption.”
Margolis doesn’t mention, at Blog for Bush, that “The raid itself was constitutional… but the FBI crossed the line when it viewed every record in the office without allowing Jefferson to argue that some involved legislative business.”
Like I said, it looks like the formula seems to be ‘Investigation’ == ‘Anything Goes’.
At GOPBloggers, he picks up this point and concludes that “Apparently, this court is arguing that criminal lawmakers would be the ones dictating what is and what isn’t involved with “legislative business”“. Hmmm… I don’t see anything about ‘dictating’. I do see ‘argue’. There is a difference. The court seems to think that Jefferson has a right to argue his case. Weird. And in a free country too.
Margolis appears to miss that this is a separation of powers issue, even though that very point is explained in the article he himself cites.
The Constitution prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement powers to interfere with the lawmaking process.
“The review of the congressman’s paper files when the search was executed exposed legislative material to the executive” and violated the Constitution, the court wrote. “The congressman is entitled to the return of documents that the court determines to be privileged.”
Again note that the congressman is not entitled to ‘dictate’ but is ‘entitled to the return of documents that the court determines to be privileged.’
One solution mentioned in the opinion was for FBI agents to lock down the office, then allow the lawmaker to set aside disputed documents. It would be up to a judge — not the FBI — to decide whether the records could be seized.
The problem? Well, I’m not sure.
Perhaps it is the whole idea of the separation of powers? A supporter of Pres. Bush can’t be too fond of the idea, as the Bush Team has done everything in its power to dissolve the walls between the branches. Maybe it is just a pathological aversion to the Constitution? Or blind partisan loyalty? Or maybe just cowboy ‘do what it takes to do the stuff your gut tells you is right and damn the consequences and so what if the evidence and shaky and things don’t get thought through’? Its hard to say.
As for Jefferson…
According to recently unsealed court documents, those include financial records, letters and computer files. The money in the freezer was hidden in a bag from an organic market and in boxes of pie crusts and vegetarian hamburgers, according to the documents.
Money hidden in the freezer? In bags and in boxes of veggie burgers? Nothing says ‘guilty’ like money hidden in the freezer. What were you thinking, man? Still, Jefferson deserves a trail and we have to preserve the integrity of the Constitution before, during and after that trail. It is this last part that seems to have been forgotten. An investigation doesn’t mean anything goes. An accusation doesn’t mean that the Constitution can go to hell in the name of a good cause.
Investigate Jefferson. Charge him. Try him. Convict him, maybe. Sentence him. And, please, in that order. But trample the Constitution to get him? No. I’d rather let him go. To convict him of fraud you don’t have to read everything in his office. I mean…
The raid was part of a 16-month international bribery investigation of Jefferson, who is accused of accepting $100,000 from a telecommunications businessman, $90,000 of which was later recovered in a freezer in the congressman’s Washington home.
… money in the freezer, people. In all fairness, though, even that could conceivably be explained. I’m not quite sure how…
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