Feds Close To ‘Heavy-Handed’ In Records Raid, Craig Says

While U.S. Sen. Larry Craig broke his silence about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s controversial July 18 raid of Clearwater County’s flood command center, U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth likened federal agents to “a bull in a china shop” a week after the raid in which 40 boxes of records were seized.

Idaho State Police reports suggest the federal agents were professional and polite under hostile conditions and some Clearwater County officials, particularly Sheriff Nick Albers, were cantankerous.

Nonetheless, Chenoweth still contends the agents were unprofessional.

“They got awful close to (crossing the line between) what is a reasonable process and what is heavy-handed,” Craig said Saturday.

“We said, ‘Be sure you document everything,’ and I trust they did,” Craig said about Clearwater County officials. He said he gave similar advice to other Idaho counties before they received federal flood relief.

“But you don’t have to act like somebody is guilty before they are proven innocent and the tactics verge on causing that appearance,” he said in Lewiston before heading to Orofino to attend the 50th birthday party for the Konkolville Lumber Co.’s mill. U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, who has kept quiet about the raid, and Chenoweth joined him there.

Craig said his staff has monitored this case closely and expressed its concerns about the raid to U.S. Attorney Betty Richardson. He said he does not know what the focus of the federal investigation is.

“When you have a legal proceeding going on, there is a clear case that members of Congress should not intervene.”