United States Supreme
Court Chides Bush Administration on Search of Congressman`s
Office
By: Tommy Elder, Jr.
Without an oral explanation- the United States Supreme Court rebuffed the Bush Administration`s search, through the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, of the office of United States Congressman William J. Jefferson`s Congressional Office. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times writes that the High Tribunal affirmed a decree by an
Appeals Court of the Federal Circuit that ruled the constitution gives congress people a `nondisclosure privilege.` This right the court concluded- ``was violated by the search of Representative William J. Jefferson`s Congressional Office.``
In its examination of this case- the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia mandated that the Federal Government must not examine any evidence pertinent to the legislative activities of Mr. Jefferson`s taken in the probe before giving them back. This order, according to Mr. Jefferson`s attornies means that about 18,000 pages of material fall under this umbrella.
On May 20, 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation`s collection of agents (representating the Executive Branch) searched a Legislative Branch member`s (congressman`s) office. The investigation located $ 90,000 in cash stuffed in a freezer. Originally, Mr. William Jefferson`s trial stood on the court`s docket for February. It currently, floats in a state of limbo due to pretrial manuever of the defense team.
In asking for a ruling by the United States` Supreme Court- the Bush Administration asserts that- ``the appeals court`s interpretation of the constitution`s `speech or debate ` clause was so broad as to turn any congressional office into ` a sanctuary for crime.`
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