True. Or like when the SC ruled that taking private land for public use is constitutional. And that supposedly froma "conservative" court.
I'm paying attention. You just have selective memory my friend: RED: Jefferson is also a Democrat being pursued by a Republican Justice Department.
OK. I should have left out the liberal judge. Just getting the warrant from a judge should have been enough. Just like Bush in the press conference yesterday saying he wishes he hadn't said "Dead or Alive." I agree with that too.
Both facts, you know. I never characterized it as a witch hunt. I'm saying Congress looks at everything as political in nature.
That's not what you said though. You said a Republican DOJ is going after a Democratic congressman. It's not a Republican DOJ anymore than the EBR Sheriff's office is a Republican Sheriff's Office. That's the characterization you made here. Congress may be political but the FBI investigating a wide-ranging corruption and bribery scandal is not. It ain't political if they have the dude on tape accepting bribes and they tried to get him to cooperate without making this a public scene. Jefferson caused this to blow up.....not some "Republican DOJ."
Yeah, I could not see how it bolstered your stance to say that. SDMan is rubbing off on you, that's all. Everything has a liberal or conservative slant, according to him. :grin:
Whoa. The Department of Justice is in no way like the EBR Sheriff, who is an elected official. The Attourney General runs the DOJ and is appointed by the President and is, in fact, a Republican. This is undisputable. Fact: Jefferson is a Democrat. Fact: The Executive Branch and the Justice Department are Republican-led. Therefore, A Republican Executive branch department is pursuing a democratice Legislative branch elected official. That is all I said. You keep insisting that I imply a political witch-hunt. But what I was suggesting is that, while Jeffersons shady activities are indeed a justice department criminal matter, actual searches within the halls of Congress are absolutely a political matter. This is why Congress is objecting. This is why the White House has backed down, sealed the seized records, and is considering returning them. Jefferson will be prosecuted and stripped of office, in time. But the Congress (both parties) doesn't want any softening of the separation of powers. For political reasons.
It looks like Bush is trying to head off an ugly battle between the House and the Justice Dept by sealing the records for 45 days. Sounds like the House wanted to retaliate by cutting their budget. Justice Dept officials threatened to quit if the documents are returned. But in the end, it looks like they will come up with a way for the FBI to legally search congressional offices. It appears the politicians realize they are on shaky grounds with the american people with all the corruption these days. Full Story
The way I see it, this was a joint effort between the judicial and legislative branches. The judicial branch issued a legal search warrant. Bush sealed the records because everyone was threatening to quit over it. It was a good move until every crook up there calms down. The agreement ought to be that when the justice department asks for evidence, you either give it to them or your office gets raided--the choice any private citizen would have. What office does anyone have here on TF that the FBI couldn't search with a warrant? If nothing comes from this now though, this is going to look really bad for Red's Republican DOJ.
I think everybody agrees that criminal activity shouldn't be concealed from a proper investigation. Congress isn't trying to protect Jefferson here. It is protecting itself from the potential of future political hijinks. Such a raid has never happened before in the 200+ years since Congress was created. Appearances are everything to a politician and this could be the start of tit-for-tat "investigations" intended to publicly humilate a congressman. None of us wants to see that either. Some compromise will likely be reached on how future criminal investigations will be conducted. It will likely involve a Congressional as well as a Judicial warrant.
