Judge Upholds Raid of Jefferson's Office

Roll Call is reporting (subscription required) that U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan has ruled that the FBI raid on Congressman William Jefferson's House office was constitutional and did not violate the Speech and Debate clause or separation of powers.

In his 28-page ruling, Hogan acknowledged that the issues raised by the Jefferson case were "unprecedented" and that special care and procedures must be employed by law enforcement officials in conducting any searches of Congressional offices.

But Hogan categorically rejected the position taken by Jefferson and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group — an official House entity representing the leadership of both parties — that the FBI search was a violation of the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers and staffers from criminal or civil actions stemming from legislative activities.

Hogan also rejected the notion that the search breached the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.

"It is well-established ... that a Member of Congress is generally bound to the operation of criminal laws as are ordinary persons," Hogan wrote. "The Speech or Debate Clause does not ‘make Members of Congress super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility."

Hogan added: "Congressman Jefferson’s interpretation of the Speech or Debate privilege would have the effect of converting every congressional office into a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime. Such a result is not supported by the Constitution or judicial precedent and will not be adopted here."

This is clearly the right decision. Admittedly, there may have been some documents seized in the raid that were and truly are protected by the Speech and Debate clause, but that seizure would be inadvertant and immaterial to the investigation. The FBI could care less what Congressman Jefferson and his staff think about some tax bill that was making its way through Congress. But they do, and should, have a right to seize material related to the bribery investigation.

Bribery is still a felony and the Speech and Debate clause does not protect Congressmen from felony prosecutions.

Jefferson's legal team, supported--wrongly I might add--by a bipartisan House legal group, plan to appeal the decision, but I suspect that the decision will be upheld and the matter to appear before the Supreme Court sometime next year.

The Memorandum Opinion In the Matter of the Search of: RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, can be found here.