Comments on: House hearings on the raid

By: markm

markm — Wed, 31 May 2006 18:35:45 +0000

There is a difference between subpoenas and search warrants – but the Congressman in question had been ignoring a subpoena for six months. IANAL, but the Constitutional argument is that the Constitution does give congressmen and senators limited immunity from criminal action while Congress is in session (apparently some English king tried influencing the vote in Parliament by arresting members on the other side, once), and a broader immunity speech in Congress. The latter clause is generally taken as protecting papers related to issues before Congress. It would NOT protect the items related to bribery that were subpoenaed and eventually hauled away under the search warrant, but to find those items someone must have riffled through all the other papers. Even though the DOJ took extraordinary measures to ensure that only the proper items were seized, and that the bribery investigators won’t see anything else, still someone from the executive branch might have seen things they shouldn’t have…

I can see a lawyer making this argument, although it’s apt to falter in court on the grounds of the ignored subpoenas. For politicians who have repeatedly endorsed raids where the government breaks down private citizens’ doors in the middle of night and hauls away EVERYTHING, just because this very polite and limited search and seizure was aimed at one of themselves, is a definite sign that they need to become private citizens by January 2007…

By: Standard Mischief

Standard Mischief — Wed, 31 May 2006 13:30:32 +0000

…summon Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and…

Two commenters beat me to this point.

By: Addison

Addison — Wed, 31 May 2006 12:33:55 +0000

Wait, if there’s this “seperation of powers” that Sensenbrenner is screaming about….

How is he going to “summon” anybody?

Jeff Cooper, in his G&A column once remarked something on the order of: “Ask people what characteristics a leader should have, and most will list intelligence, honor, duty, or other notable sentiments. But how do we pick them? Popularity.”

By: Ravenwood

Ravenwood — Wed, 31 May 2006 11:50:14 +0000

Maybe I don’t get it. If the FBI as part of the Executive branch, is not allowed to serve warrants on the Legislative branch, what makes Congress think they can subpeona the Executive branch.

Perhaps the FBI should call their subpeona unConstitutional and give them the finger.