Rhino
05-26-2006, 12:40 PM
Hastert: Scuffle With Justice Department 'Behind Us'
Friday, May 26, 2006
WASHINGTON — Rep. Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House of Representatives, Friday put Congress' constitutional argument with the Justice Department "behind us now" and said he's working with Justice to set guidelines for the FBI to review materials it seized from a lawmaker's office and any other searches of Congressional offices.
Hastert said he regrets that the FBI did not give congressional officials notice of their plans to search offices of Rep. William Jefferson last weekend or "figure out a way to do it consistently with the Constitution."
"But that is behind us now," Hastert said in the newspaper USA Today. "I am confident that in the next 45 days, the lawyers will figure out how to do it right."
Hastert's move came after President George W. Bush ordered that documents be sealed for 45 days, calling a time out in a fight between the legislative and executive branches over constitutional prerogatives.
Bush's spokesman branded as "false, false, false" any charges that the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, had tried to intimidate Hastert.
Lawmakers from both parties complained that the weekend search, said to be the first in congressional history, was an abuse of executive powers. So Bush tried on Thursday to calm the tone.
"Our government has not faced such a dilemma in more than two centuries," he said in a statement. "Yet after days of discussions, it is clear these differences will require more time to be worked out."
Bush granted one of Hastert's demands, directing the FBI to surrender documents and computerized records taken from the office of Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat.
The president told Solicitor General Paul Clement, who has a separate office in the Justice Department, to take custody of the material.
Bush said no one is above the law and that he continued to support the investigation of Jefferson. The eight-term congressman is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate a telephone investment deal in Africa..........http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197165,00.html
Friday, May 26, 2006
WASHINGTON — Rep. Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House of Representatives, Friday put Congress' constitutional argument with the Justice Department "behind us now" and said he's working with Justice to set guidelines for the FBI to review materials it seized from a lawmaker's office and any other searches of Congressional offices.
Hastert said he regrets that the FBI did not give congressional officials notice of their plans to search offices of Rep. William Jefferson last weekend or "figure out a way to do it consistently with the Constitution."
"But that is behind us now," Hastert said in the newspaper USA Today. "I am confident that in the next 45 days, the lawyers will figure out how to do it right."
Hastert's move came after President George W. Bush ordered that documents be sealed for 45 days, calling a time out in a fight between the legislative and executive branches over constitutional prerogatives.
Bush's spokesman branded as "false, false, false" any charges that the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, had tried to intimidate Hastert.
Lawmakers from both parties complained that the weekend search, said to be the first in congressional history, was an abuse of executive powers. So Bush tried on Thursday to calm the tone.
"Our government has not faced such a dilemma in more than two centuries," he said in a statement. "Yet after days of discussions, it is clear these differences will require more time to be worked out."
Bush granted one of Hastert's demands, directing the FBI to surrender documents and computerized records taken from the office of Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat.
The president told Solicitor General Paul Clement, who has a separate office in the Justice Department, to take custody of the material.
Bush said no one is above the law and that he continued to support the investigation of Jefferson. The eight-term congressman is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars to facilitate a telephone investment deal in Africa..........http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197165,00.html