All for the Constitution

For those of you who haven't followed the story, the FBI recently searched the congressional office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), after they found $90,000 in bribes hidden in his home freezer. Ok, so another congressman is corrupt; let the partisan mugslinging begin.

But that hasn't happened. On the contrary, congresspeople from both sides of the aisle have come out against searching a congressional office. They say that the office of a sitting congressperson has never been searched in the 217-year history of Congress. So what's the problem? Some members of Congress have suggested that this a serious separation of powers issue. They interpret the Speech and Powers clause of the Constitution as preventing any sort of search of a Congressional leader's office. For the record, the text of the Speech and Powers clause is as follows:

[Members of Congress] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace be privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Session of their Respective Houses, and in going to and from the same, and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

So Congress takes that to mean that they are free of searches on their property. The courts, however, have held up the legality of the search.

One of the chief congressional opponents of the measure, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), has run into some trouble since he began speaking out against the search. On Wednesday, ABC News reported that Rep. Hastert was "in the mix" in a justice department inquiry into the dealings of Jack Abramoff. The tip came from an anonymous source, and the Department of Justice immediately contradicted the report. Both ABC News and the DoJ are sticking to their guns on the story, but Hastert is taking it personally. He has accused the DoJ of intimidation. Hastert thinks that the DoJ is trying to scare him away from talking about the search. A bold claim.

So now Hastert is threatening to sue ABC News for libel and defamation, and, on Thursday, he sent a threatening letter, which says:

We will take any and all actions necessary to rectify the harm ABC has caused and to hold those at ABC responsible for their conduct.

So Hastert, who is so concerned about the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, is much less concerned about the First Amendment. It's amazing how the Constitution is pliable for these members of Congress.

It's time that someone steps up and decides that Congress needs to do a better job of policing itself. Constitutional smoke and mirrors are no longer acceptable.