Hearing on House Raid

The legality of the FBI raid on Congressman W. Jefferson (D-LA) office over a week ago was trashed yesterday morning during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by J. Sensenbrenner (R-WI). During the raid, the FBI forbade the presence of a lawyer for either the House or Congressman Jefferson. Also, constitutionally protected materials were seized in the sweep. The raid took a full 18 hours to conduct.

All witnesses, who included law professors, a former member of the House
and a former Justice Department official, and members agreed the raid violated
the separation of powers provided by the Constitution between the legislative
and executive branches of government. Witnesses cited other instances
where the Bush administration had unilaterally grabbed power, including the
White House's authorizing more aggressive interrogation of prisoners, domestic
wiretapping without a warrant and data mining. The consensus was that the
search reduced Congress' standing as a co-equal branch of government and
amounted to intimidation of Congress.

Further hearings are planned, which would include calling Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI officials to testify.

President Bush has ordered all the materials taken from the office sealed for 45 days while the Justice Department and the Congress negotiate procedures for conducting investigations involving members of Congress.

The incompetent Bush administration continues to arrogantly assert its primacy, all the while tripping over its own feet in the process.

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