Renzi Wiretaps Picked Up Other Lawmakers

From The Hill:

FBI wiretaps picked up the voices of several members of Congress in their conversations with Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.).

The House General Counsel’s office recently notified those members after the Department of Justice (DOJ) told the House lawyers that the lawmakers’ voices had been intercepted during the FBI’s investigation of Renzi’s land deal, according to three GOP sources.

It is unclear which members were taped and whether Renzi’s home, office, and/or cell phones were tapped. And there is no indication of alleged wrongdoing by any member other than Renzi; the Renzi indictment does not mention or allude to other legislators and the use of wiretaps is not mentioned in it.

Nevertheless, as the prosecution of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) has made apparent, any criminal matter involving lawmakers is thorny. So any use of the wiretaps at the trial is likely to be the subject of a protracted legal battle involving Constitutional issues.

It’s partly because of such issues, no doubt, that Renzi’s trial has been pushed back from its original scheduled start this month until October.