Hmmmm…..must be something important in those files the FBI seized:
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, and senior officials and career prosecutors at the Justice Department told associates this week that they were prepared to quit if the White House directed them to relinquish evidence seized in a bitterly disputed search of a House member’s office, government officials said Friday.
Mr. Gonzales was joined in raising the possibility of resignation by the deputy attorney general, Paul J. McNulty, the officials said. Mr. Gonzales and Mr. McNulty told associates that they had an obligation to protect evidence in a criminal case and would be unwilling to carry out any White House order to return the material to Congress.
The potential showdown was averted Thursday when President Bush ordered the evidence to be sealed for 45 days to give Congress and the Justice Department a chance to work out a deal.
The evidence was seized by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents last Saturday night in a search of the office of Representative William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana. The search set off an uproar of protest by House leaders in both parties, who said the intrusion by an executive branch agency into a Congressional office violated the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. They demanded that the Justice Department return the evidence.
The possibility of resignations underscored the gravity of the crisis that gripped the Justice Department as the administration grappled with how to balance the pressure from its own party on Capitol Hill against the principle that a criminal investigation, especially one involving a member of Congress, should be kept well clear of political considerations.
As always, Bush has picked well with this one. Gonzales stood up for principal, knowing full well that those in Congress who are bitching and moaning about a criminals office being searched are in the wrong. There is no article in the Constitution that protects criminal activities….
If Jefferson had complied with the subpoena in the first place the warrant would never have had to be written.
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I applaud AG Alberto Gonzales, FBI director Robert Mueller, and prosecutors at the Department of Juctice for not yielding to political pressure in an obvious case of bribery involving Congressman William Jefferson. Invoking separation of legislative and executive powers has nothing to do with this case and is clearly a red herring designed to distract us from what is at issue here.
Jefferson may be a member of Congress, but there’s nothing in the Constitution that gives him immunity from investigations all Americans
are subjected to in a suspected case of crime or official misconduct. While I don’t want to prejudge this case, what we know so far suggests that Jefferson is not innocent of the probable charge of bribery for which, without doubt, he is going to be charged.
It would be nice to have officials like Gonzales and Mueller stand up for principles, instead of the poltroons we see quite often who lose their integrity once they get to Washington. Having an army of honest men and women in government would be our best guarantee of not having to clean those Augean stables every so often.
Bravo, Alberto!
I heard about this on Fox this morning. Awesome!!! I happen to think that Alberto Gonzalez is the finest AG we have had in decades and I am VERY glad to see that both he and Mueller are willing to stand up when it counts. There is much at stake here and, having thought about it (after jumping to conclusions like almost everyone else who doesn’t know what’s going on) I am totally satisfied that Bush did the right thing sealing these records until such time that Congress can be convinced that it has NO SPECIAL IMMUNITY from prosecution or investigation. He made it perfectly clear that the files would NOT be returned to Jefferson.
Carol