Bipartisan outcry arises over FBI raid on congressman's office

WASHINGTON — An unusual FBI raid of a Democratic congressman's office over the weekend prompted complaints Monday from leaders in both parties, who said the tactic was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government.

Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who is at the center of a 14-month investigation for allegedly accepting bribes to promote business ventures in Africa, held a news conference denying any wrongdoing and denouncing the raid on his office as an "outrageous intrusion." Jefferson, who has not been charged with a crime, vowed to seek re-election in November.

"There are two sides to every story; there are certainly two sides to this story," Jefferson said. "There will be an appropriate time and forum when that can be explained."

The raid on Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building on Saturday posed a political dilemma for the leaders of both parties, who felt compelled to protest Jefferson's treatment while condemning any wrongdoing by him. A search-warrant affidavit unsealed Sunday said the FBI had videotaped Jefferson taking $100,000 in bribe money and then found $90,000 of the same cash stuffed inside his apartment freezer.

The FBI is investigating allegations that Jefferson took hundreds of thousand of dollars in bribes to promote high-tech business ventures in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana. Two people have pleaded guilty to bribing Jefferson to promote iGate, a Kentucky-based Internet and cable-TV company.

GOP leaders, who have previously sought to focus attention on the Jefferson case as a counterpoint to their party's ethical scandals, said they were disturbed by the raid. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said that he was "very concerned" about the incident and that Senate and House counsels would review it. Senior House aides said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., raised serious questions about the raid earlier in the day, before Jefferson's news conference.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Monday night that "members of Congress must obey the law and cooperate fully with any criminal investigation," but that "Justice Department investigations must be conducted in accordance with constitutional protections and historical precedent."

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declined to discuss the case in detail but said, "The executive branch intends to work with the Congress to allay" any concerns about the tactic.

"I will admit that these were unusual steps that were taken in response to an unusual set of circumstances," he said.

Legal experts were divided on the legality and propriety of the FBI's raid, but many argued it could raise serious evidentiary problems for prosecutors at trial. In scores of past cases of alleged congressional wrongdoing, federal prosecutors and FBI agents have most commonly sought to issue subpoenas for documents rather than raiding congressional property, experts said.

At issue is the "speech or debate" clause in the Constitution, which was aimed at shielding lawmakers from intimidation by the executive branch and has been interpreted broadly by the courts throughout history, according to legal experts.

Charles Tiefer, a University of Baltimore law professor who served as solicitor and deputy general counsel of the House for 11 years, called the raid "an intimidating tactic that has never before been used against the legislative branch."

"The framers, who were familiar with King George III's disdain for their colonial legislatures, would turn over in their graves," Tiefer said.

But Viet Dinh, a former assistant attorney general in the Bush administration who is now a Georgetown University law professor, said "the raid on his offices itself does not define a constitutional issue."

The constitutional privilege for lawmakers, Dinh said, does not "expand to insulate everything that goes on in a congressional office, especially if there's allegations of abuse of process or bribery. ... The fine line is whether or not it relates to a legislative process or not, not whether they've raided his office."

The legal debate and protests acted as something of a diversion for Jefferson.

The Louisiana Democrat, who has taken a defiant and assertive stance in recent appearances, appeared softer-spoken and more hesitant Monday. "There's a criminal investigation going on regarding this, and my lawyers have advised me not to discuss, and I will not discuss any of the alleged facts in the case."