Hastert tells President Bush FBI raid was unconstitutional

The Hill ^ | 5/24/06 | Patrick O'Connor

[clawrence3]

On a Saturday? That's obviously not an effort to get the Speaker's Office to cooperate - just a polite head's up so no one gets shot.

[SE Mom]

Exactly- they did everything by the book.

[mrsmith]

We do not have a living constitution.

The Founders were well aware of corruption when they decided this privilege was neccessary.

The acts of the House are not subject to any Executive or Judicial process.

That the papers sought for were not covered by that privilege doesn't change the fact that papers which were privileged were examinedn by members of the Executive- and that is Hastert's complaint.

[Revolting cat!]

Damn, Jeffrey Dahmer should of run for Congress, and stored those spare body parts inside the freezer in his office! Who woulda known?

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

If a Republican's office had been searched, the Democrats and Marxist Media would be opining about how "no one is above the law", "truth to power", etc., ad nauseum, and Hastert would be in a fetal position under his desk, sucking his thumb.

[NormsRevenge]

President Bush, right, shakes hands with Speaker of the House Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., before delivering his speech on the War in Iraq at the Arie Crown Theatre in McCormick Place, Monday, May 22, 2006 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

[highball]

I love when the Dems wave the Constitution around all of a sudden.

I would expect that from Dims. I don't expect that from the "Conservative" leadership.

[monkeyshine]

Elections? Fine and good, except we wouldn't know that the guy was corrupt if he was out of reach, and so we couldn't use elections to oust him for corruption because we wouldn't even know about it.

Anyway, the FBI got this guy clean, it seems. Their informant paid off the bribe, got it on video, and found the cash in his freezer. The FBI did just about everything they could to protect the rights of Congress. They even subpoena'd relevent evidence to no avail. The raid was the last resort. It hardly seems abusive, in this case.

[samantha]

Well they better not take all those files home to hide them. They might get burglarized and end up with the thief selling the stolen merchandise on e-Bay to the highest bidder, or better yet give it to that sleazy Washington Post reporter so that she can get another Pulitzer Prize. As far as I know Hastert is not a Lawyer and I have very little respect for the man. He sounds like he is trying to cover his ample @ss He needs to get a gastric bypass before his brain is totally taken over by fat. Hastert has a King Complex, and I have noticed that a lot of Congressman including my own have that same huge ego thing going. They think they are more important than the President, and my respect for GWB grows and diminishes for those egotistical pukes. If I was the FBI, I would think these guys that are complaining are acting a little too squirrelly, and I would be cranking out more Subpoena's.

[Drango]

If Congress is a sovereign branch of government, as it is, how can the executive branch execute a raid on it?

raid? Uhhhh as I said to others, how can the FBI run a search on a judge? They the executive branch police the judicial branch. Why can't they do the same of the congressional?

[streetpreacher]

Not directly per se I would think, any such search would need to handled by Justice as part of a legal process.

So apparently, the Executive Branch can order searches on the Legislative Branch but only the Executive Branch can order searches on the Executive Branch? Equal branches of government...

[Mo1]

That's obviously not an effort to get the Speaker's Office to cooperate - just a polite head's up so no one gets shot

My understanding is this investigation has been ongoing since March 2005

And there was a search on Jefferson's house in Aug 2005 .. If Hassert didn't know about this investigation then he is blind as a bat

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

If this is Hastert's response, perhaps he does need to be demoted.

I'd like to see Barbaro appointed speaker. At least he has stones.

[toddlintown]

Take fat-assed Hastert and every freaking RINO and ship them off to the Baja. And I'm one county over from Hastert's base.

Did anybody watch Sessions wrap up tonight's Senate session?

[Prost1]

I guess CONGRESS is a FREE CRIME ZONE!

[SE Mom]

Don't you sometimes wonder where our representatives get their staffs? I thought about this today when I learned of the reaction on the Hill. It's unlikely Hastert or any of the Knee-Jerk Kids actually studied the warrant before they reacted.

Someone(s) on their staff advised them and before you know it- they're all out in front of the cameras. It's all for show- I doubt one of em grasps the substance of this as well as the people on this thread.

It's quite informative- to observe them reaching conclusions on this event...then realize this is how they do OUR business.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Someone check Denny's freezer.

If every freezer in DC was searched, we could probably pay off the national debt.

[streetpreacher]

The fault that scumbags are in congress is the fault of the People, and the remedy is every two years.

Agreed. The House of Representatives is the "people's chamber". The Senate of course should be held accountable by the State legislatures but they screwed that one up. They're basically a 100 little mavericks now doing their own thing.

[P.O.E.]

Ah for the heady days of promise of the '94 Congress. Kinda ended with a whimper.

[baiamonte]

I'm with you. Let the Dems take over. At least we'll have crooks in control that we can depend on.