President Bush has ordered the documents seized by the FBI from the office of Congressman William Jefferson pursuant to a search warrant sealed for 45 days.
President Bush personally ordered the Justice Department today to seal records seized from the Capitol Hill office of a Democratic congressman, marking a remarkable intervention by the nation’s chief executive into an ongoing criminal probe of alleged corruption.
The order culminates an escalating constitutional confrontation between the Justice Department and the House of Representatives, where lawmakers have demanded that the FBI return items seized during a Saturday night raid of the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.).
In a six-paragraph statement, Bush said he issued the order to give the Justice Department and angry lawmakers more time to work out an agreement about how to resolve the conflict. The materials, which have been described in court filings as two boxes of documents and copies of computer files, will be held by Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, who is not involved in the Jefferson probe, Bush’s statement said.
“Our government has not faced such a dilemma in more than two centuries,” Bush said. “Yet after days of discussions, it is clear these differences will require more time to be worked out.”
I don’t get it. Where’s the dillemma here ? A Federal Judge issued a search warrant based on evidence that included an affidavit stating that Jefferson was seen on videotape taking $ 100,000 in bribe money and later hiding it in a freezer. Congressional leaders, ever intent on preserving the diginity of Congress even in the face of blatantly illegal actions were outraged:
Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government, which is meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation. Legal scholars are divided on this issue, however, and some said yesterday that the raid does not violate the letter of the Constitution or subsequent rulings by the Supreme Court.
Glenn Reynolds puts it quite succiently:
Could Al Qaeda have slipped mind-altering drugs into the DC water supply? What’s gotten into these people? Or has some sort of deal been cut? Whatever it is, I don’t think I like it.
I know I don’t. And Michelle Malkin has the quote of the day on this stupid move by the White House:
Un-freaking-believable.
Remind me again why its a good thing Bush was re-elected ?
Um is this the new way of “freezing assets?”
Obviously this President has not reached the bottom yet.