Speasking of the Hill Dust-up

....Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, here;s this...

TPMmuckraker May 30, 2006 06:58 PM:

"I didn't think it was possible, but the Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) case just got even uglier.

Today the Justice Department filed their response to Jefferson's lawyer's motion, where he argued that the search violated the 'Speech or Debate' clause of the Constitution and demanded that the FBI return the seized documents. It is a lengthy, detailed dismantling of that argument - and TPMm readers interested in the Constitutional questions here should give it a read.

But beyond the legal argumentation, prosecutors supply the most detailed version of their case against him so far. And they explain why it is that they needed to raid his office - because they don't trust him to turn over evidence. According to an FBI agent's affidavit appended to the filing, Jefferson tried to 'surreptitiously remove' documents while the FBI was searching his home in August of last year." (Constitutional issues aside, just for a moment, Jefferson should, at least, step down from his commitee assignements: Read On ^)