News:

Unnecessarily argumentative

Main Menu

Rep Jefferson of Louisiana

Started by Asmodean Prime, July 08, 2006, 06:10:15 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Asmodean Prime

Here is a letter I wrote to Nancy Pelosi after her stand, along with Speaker Hastert regarding the search warrant and subsequent search of Rep. Jefferson's office.  As you may recall, Rep Jefferson had $90,000 in cold, hard cash (literally) in the freezer of his home.  He is under investigation for numerous bribery and related charges.  Additionally, he stonewalled the requests for documents for months he was ordered to provide to the Justice department, as ordered by a court.  That is what provoked the search of his congressional offices.  Following my letter is the letter I received from my Congressman.

Dear Leader Pelosi,

I had high hopes that the Democrats would be able to take back the House.  But, just as is said about the Palestinians, you never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

I won't even delve into the reasoning used to take a constitutional stand regarding Rep. Jefferson and the search warrant issued and pursued.  I'll stay in shallow waters, where the electorate resides.

The perceptions could not be worse, if they were scripted by the Republican Party.

1.  Finally, a unified position emerges from the Congressional Leadership..."We protect our own".  Nice.  

2.  Standing with a man, who himself is under investigation, albeit not a target at this time.  Nice.

Do you really expect to parse your stand to the public?  Apparently, you do.  "Yes, we stand against the 'culture of corruption of the Republicans', but when it comes to Democrats, er, umm, not so much".  Nice.  

Congratulations on your upcoming election, and continued residency in the position of Minority Leader unless, someone has the nerve and audacity to tell the empress she has no clothes.  Frankly, I dont see how you can possibly extricate yourself from the politically ridiculous position you have placed yourself in, except to give up the Culture of Corruption campaign.  Although, it has not caught hold, I am convinced that with properly prepared television spots, placed close to the election, this theme was a sure-fired winner.

Here's a thought.  Step down as Minority Leader, and nominate Rahm Emanuel to replace yourself.  You could say you want to spend more time with your family.

I wanted to send copies of this letter to all of the Democratic Leadership, but was only able to find the three addresses I included.  If you would be so kind as to forward this letter to them, I would appreciate it.  (yeah, right)

Sincerely,

Me

The letter I received last week from Rep. DeFazio:

Thanks for taking the time to contact me about the FBI's recent search of Rep. Jefferson's congressional office as part of an on-going bribery investigation.  I appreciate hearing from you.

I agree with you that no member of Congress is above the law.  When there is even the slightest appearance of impropriety, those allegations should be thoroughly investigated and, if true, punished.  

I also agree that the FBI, having a court-ordered warrant, was within their right to search Rep. Jefferson's office for documents he had been ordered to turn over months earlier.  I find it curious that the Republican congressional leadership is calling foul in this instance.  They've stood idly by and watched the thousand-fold increase in warrant-less searches by the administration via national security letters, sneak and peek searches which don't require notification of the subject of the search, and government demands for massive databases containing library, health and financial records without probable cause of criminal involvement.  In the Jefferson case, there was a search warrant, probable cause and notification, and I don't believe there was any constitutional bar of the search.  

The congressional leaders feel there are institutional reasons to be concerned about the manner in which the search was conducted.  The search took 18-hours and the Justice Department refused to allow Rep. Jefferson's attorney or a representative of the House to be present to observe the search.  As you may know, the President has ordered the seized documents to be sealed for 60 days to give the Department of Justice and the House time to work out the disposition of the documents, and procedures for future searches since several members are under investigation for actions involving their official duties.

Again, thanks for your message.  Please stay in touch.

Rep.Peter DeFazio
Fourth District, OREGON