Hastert speaks out against search
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Dennis Hastert complained directly to President Bush on Tuesday about the FBI’s unprecedented raid on Rep. William Jefferson’s office, while officials said senior Democrats worked to ease the Louisiana lawmaker out of a powerful committee assignment, at least temporarily.
“My opinion is that they took the wrong path,” Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters after meeting with Bush in the White House. “They need to back up, and we need to go from there.”
White House officials said they didn’t learn of the search of Rep. William Jefferson’s office on Saturday night and Sunday until after it happened. They pledged to work with the Justice Department to soothe lawmakers’ anger.
“We are hoping that there’s a way to balance the constitutional concerns of the House of Representatives with the law enforcement obligations of the executive branch,” said White House press secretary Tony Snow. “Obviously we are taking note of Speaker Hastert’s statements.”
FBI agents raided Jefferson’s office over the weekend, and issued an affidavit saying they had earlier discovered $90,000 wrapped and stashed in the freezer of his home.
Jefferson has not been indicted and has denied wrongdoing. But his predicament spread concern through the upper echelons of Republicans and Democrats in both houses.
House Democrats especially reacted quickly, in keeping with their election-year vow to campaign against what they call a Republican “culture of corruption.”
Officials said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had discussed Jefferson’s situation with several fellow senior lawmakers and there was a consensus that he should step aside, preferably voluntarily, at least until his legal situation was clarified. It was not clear whether she or an emissary had approached Jefferson. The officials who described the developments did so on condition of anonymity, citing the delicacy of the situation.
Pelosi had no immediate comment on Jefferson’s situation.
Jefferson is a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, with jurisdiction over taxes, trade, Medicare and more.
“He’s not going to step down from Ways and Means,” said his spokeswoman, Melanie Roussell. “Nor will he resign from Congress.”
Whatever Jefferson’s fate, the weekend raid stirred bipartisan expressions of concern.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying, “We have a great deal of respect for the Congress as a coequal branch of government.” But he also defended the search: “We have an obligation to the American people to pursue the evidence where it exists.”
Justice Department officials said the decision to search Jefferson’s office was made in part because he refused to comply with a subpoena for documents last summer. Jefferson reported the subpoena to the House on Sept. 15, 2005.
Historians said the search, carried out on a warrant issued last Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan in Washington, was the first in the 219-year history of the Congress.
The House and Senate Judiciary committees were looking at the ramifications of Hogan’s action, but their respective chairmen, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., both declined to comment Tuesday.