Washington Post Gets It Right

That's the best way that I can think of for this Washington Post editorial. Let's take a look at what they had to say:
The uproar over the FBI's search of Rep. William J. Jefferson's congressional office is understandable but overblown. A demand yesterday by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that the Justice Department return the papers it seized goes way too far. Constitutional provisions designed to protect lawmakers from fear of political retribution, such as the speech-and-debate clause, counsel restraint and caution in circumstances such as these. They do not transform congressional offices into taxpayer-funded sanctuaries.
It's time Hastert and Pelosi figured that out and stopped making such public fools of themselves. What's most troubling to me is that, while Pelosi is expert at making a public fool of herself with her daily "culture of corruption" diatribes, Hastert isn't in the habit of looking foolish. It's also not his nature to get constitutional issues wrong this badly. It's time for Hastert to refind his strict constructionist roots. ASAP.
No one wants to have FBI agents pawing through lawmakers' files. Prosecutors and agents need to exhaust other avenues of obtaining evidence before doing so. If a search is required, they must take care not to trample on lawmakers' privileged activities...But the material for which agents searched had been under subpoena for eight months; Mr. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, resisted complying. Under those circumstances, seeking judicial approval for a search warrant is more reasonable.
Jefferson's actions didn't leave law enforcement with many options. The FBI got a court approved search warrant to retrieve subpoenaed materials. Simply put, the FBI did its job and Pelosi and Hastert acted like spoiled brats defending the indefensible.


Posted Thursday, May 25, 2006 10:21 AM

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