Monday, May 29, 2006

Barney On the House Raid

I had been supportive of the House leadership on the FBI raid of Congressman Jefferson's office. I saw it as another example of the Imperial presidency under George Bush. Given my fourteen years working in the House of Representatives, I am also very sensitive to the Constitutional perogatives of the Congress generally and the House specifically.

My old boss, Barney Frank has forced me to change my position. As usual, he gets to the core of the issue and his logic is unassailable.

TalkingPointsMemo reprints his remarks on the floor of the House. This now represents my position.

Here's Barney's money quote:

"What we now have is a Congressional leadership, the Republican part of which has said it is okay for law enforcement to engage in warrantless searches of the average citizen, now objecting when a search, pursuant to a validly issued warrant, is conducted of a Member of Congress."

And why or why did Nancy Pelosi not consult Barney before she signed on to the Hastert letter?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Frank is right. How did they think this would be justified? Why is the inner sanctum of a member's office off limits when there is evidence of criminal behavior (and a court agrees by issuing a warrant)?

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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