With all the debate about the warrant executed on Rep. Jefferson’s office, let’s not forget the context in which this stink arose.
Earlier this month, we found out that the Duke Cunningham case was expanding and that the Duke case investigators were requesting documents from Congress as part of their probe into the roles of other members of Congress. The response from the Hill was, in so many words, ‘No, You’re asking for too much stuff.’
That response came with Denny Hastert’s seal of approval.
As the Times described the back and forth on May 16th …
Justice Department investigators and lawyers for the House of Representatives are wrangling over a request by the department for Congressional committee documents related to its expanding inquiry into the bribery scheme that involved former Representative Randy Cunningham, a Republican Congressional official said Monday.
The United States attorney’s office in San Diego has asked for copies of ”tens of thousands” of documents from the House Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, the official said, as part of its inquiry into whether Mr. Cunningham illegally influenced the process the committees use to designate money for military projects.
But lawyers for the Republican-controlled House rebuffed the request as unreasonably broad, the official said, and asked the United States attorney’s office for a shorter list.
And who’s in the crosshairs in this expanded Cunningham investigation? “Several members” of the House Appropriations Committee reported the Times back on May 12th. And, in particular, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Denny Hastert knows what’s coming down the pike. He’s taking the opportunity of the Jefferson search warrant to float this specious constitutional argument and clip the investigators’ wings on the most politically favorable terms.
