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| Hastert’s Folly |
| Friday, May 26, 2006 |
| U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert is making a fool of himself by continue to insist that the search warrant served on a Congressman’s office violated the constitutional separation of powers.
The text of the Constitution to which Hastert and others is this provision in Article I, Section 6: “They 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 returning from the same;”
First, the Congressman in question is being investigated for a felony. Second, the search warrant did not constitute an arrest. Third, it was served on a Saturday evening, when Congress was not in session.
The entire foundation of Hastert et al’s claim rests on the fact that it is unprecedented. So what? In a guest column in the USA Today, Hastert wrote “Justice Department officials now insist that this specific case required them, for the first time, to conduct a search. I regret that when they reached this conclusion, they did not work with us to figure out a way to do it consistently with the Constitution.”
President Bush has ordered that the documents seized from the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) be sealed for 45 days while his Justice Department settle the dispute with the house. That gave Hastert a 45-day period to back off of his ridiculous objection gracefully. He’s off to a very bad start.
Ralph Bristol |
posted by Jack Mercer @ 5/26/2006 10:24:00 AM   |
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Name: Jack Mercer
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