Jun 01 2006
Imperial Congress II
The Jefferson-Imperial Congress story is the most disheartening of all the foibles I have seen the reps in Congress execute. Dubai Ports World was pretty bad, but the year long refusal to honor a legal subpoena and establish a superior citizenship (with only 535 members) has just destroyed my view of Republicans to the point it cannot be salvaged:
For most members of the public, the showdown between the House of Representatives and the Justice Department over the corruption investigation of Rep. William Jefferson began on May 21, when word got out that the FBI was searching Jefferson’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building. But the struggle actually began last August, when prosecutors first searched Jefferson’s homes in Louisiana and Washington and subpoenaed documents from his office. And it appears that the House of Representatives—not just Jefferson personally, but the House as an institution—has been resisting the Justice Department since virtually the beginning.
This is what one Jefferson Staffer wrote into the Congressional record when faced with a court order.
After consultation with the Office of General Counsel, I have determined that compliance with the subpoena is inconsistent with the precedents and privileges of the House.
So now it is not just members of Congres who are ‘privileged’. It includes their staff to. Has anyone every wondered what it means to have a legislative branch (which makes our laws) beyond the reach of our courts (which judicate the law)?
has just destroyed my view of Republicans to the point it cannot be salvaged
And this is a Republican issue?
Blame everything on Bush, Blame America First,, Sometimes it’s the blankety blank newspeople, sometimes it the blankety blank Democrats and Sometimes, just Sometimes it the Blankety Blank Crooks , and Sometimes it may not actully be the Republicans that cause all the problems in the world
The other day I heard some Congressman, [I think he was a Democrat], who said “We have the power to impeach the Attorney General, for that matter we have the power to impeach the judge who signed the warrant.”
I thought then. Oh buddy, these guys are getting way too big for their britches. But this is not partisan, it is institutional.