At last Republican congressional leaders have found an abuse of executive power that offends them:
An unusual FBI raid of a Democratic congressman’s office over the weekend prompted complaints yesterday from leaders in both parties, who said the tactic was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government.…
Republican leaders, who previously sought to focus attention on the Jefferson case as a counterpoint to their party’s own ethical scandals, said they are disturbed by the raid. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R‑Tenn.) said that he is “very concerned” about the incident and that Senate and House counsels will review it.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R‑Ill.) expressed alarm at the raid. “The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case,” he said in a lengthy statement released last night.
“Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this Separation of Powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by Members of Congress,” he said.…
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R‑Ga.), in an e‑mail to colleagues with the subject line “on the edge of a constitutional confrontation,” called the Saturday night raid “the most blatant violation of the Constitutional Separation of Powers in my lifetime.”
If they are finally awake to the executive branch’s indifference to constitutional restrictions, they could find some more opportunities for oversight and correction here and here.
