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I have no doubt but that most of my readers have heard that Congressman, Louisiana Representative William Jefferson, has been accused of bribe taking, and stashing the cash in his in office freezer The bribe was said to be $100,000, the money in various food containers, and aluminum foil , in the freezer, $90,000.

Louisiana Rep, William jefferson

to wit:

CONGRESSMAN FACES BRIBERY PROBE
Monday, May 22, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com

A U.S. Democratic congressman facing a bribery probe after police found $90,000 in his freezer denied wrongdoing on Monday and said he would not step down from his congressional seat. Speaking to reporters, Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson said he could not discuss details of the pending federal investigation. - Reuters

Now, controversy arises over the jurisdiction to allow such a search. It was indeed, the congressmans office.
We have three branches of government. The executive, which mainly means, the president; the legislative, which includes the Senate, and the House Of Representatives; and thirdly, the Judicial, which is comprised of the Supreme Court, and the court system in general.

In theory, the three are expected to oversee one another, watchdog fashion, always on the lookout for wrongdoing, or any breach of trust.

This is a good system, it works.

I now quote an article which says a furor has arisen:

from the May 24, 2006 edition
Search of Capitol Hill office creates another storm
By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers gathered on the House floor Monday evening to vote on veterans benefits, but that's not what caused most of the buzz. Nor was the corruption probe of Rep. William Jefferson (D) of Louisiana the leading topic of conversation.
No. More than reports of videotaped bribery and cash hidden in his home freezer, the scuttlebutt centered on the fact that the FBI had, for the first time, searched a congressional office.
Is Congress missing the point - or is there a serious constitutional issue at stake here?
The constitutional concern runs deep and across party lines. "When I first saw [reports of the search], I thought: 'Wonder if the federal government needs to be reined in,' " said Rep. Zach Wamp (R) of Tennessee.
Even House Speaker Dennis Hastert weighed in, following what colleagues describe as angry phone calls from his staff to the Justice Department. "The Founding Fathers were very careful to establish in the Constitution a separation of powers to protect Americans against the tyranny of any one branch of government. They were particularly concerned about limiting the power of the Executive Branch," he said in a statement.

"When I first saw [reports of the search], I thought: 'Wonder if the federal government needs to be reined in,' " said Rep. Zach Wamp (R) of Tennessee"

Clearly Representitive Wamp fails to appreciate our three part system .

In response to his inquiry, this:

"A federal district judge in suburban Virginia issued the warrant that allowed the FBI to search Jefferson's office.
"It's an extremely complex area of constitutional law," says Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. "Historically, even if the FBI had a warrant, there's no precedent for intrusion into the office of a member of Congress.""

It would be difficult to rationalize a scenario wherein a congressman having been videotaped bribe taking wouldn't be subject to search.
He allegedly hid the money in his congressional office.

I leave this issue to my readers to ponder.

Posted in Jefferson BigBadJohnny | | | | 265 reads