The Inside Story of FBI’s Historic Raid on Capitol Hill

It’s about time that the FBI starts taking a hard look at the politicians and other decision makers on Capital Hill. Good job FBI.

I think the F.B.I.is doing a good job in routting out those corrupt politicien who pertray themselfs as being ethical and hornest.For once i appluded the goverment. Thank God something is being done to make our goverment officials accountible for thier worng doing. Thank God:

There’s a higher percentage of American Citizens behind you than you may assume. Please, on our behalf, continue to face corrupt politicans with fortitude.

I’m sure he’ll just say “I was setup!” … and many will choose to believe that.

I’m glad that some agency is looking into Capitol Hill for the biggest curruption. We need to make our government for the people and not for a way to become rich for a few. Our government is so full of curruption that something needs to be done. This curruption is spilling into the private sector of our Nation and needs to be stopped.

Mike/5/22/06 — At least the author mentioned that it was a democrat. Democrats from his home state probably know what party he hails from. What will be interesting is if there are others who are republican get caught — will it truly be a bi-partisan affair or will all the republicans get off for ‘lack of evidence’?

I recently tried to email Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) as I’ve done before but couldnt get past the new 9-digit post code screening on her website – saying several “share” that zip code. I’ve noticed increasingly that other congress people I’ve emailed send replies that outright say they dont pay attention to residents outside their district yet apparently they “listen” to lobbyists with agendas/money. Sorry to see a Democrat, and a black one, fall victim but he was 8-term congressman – when you have $90,000 cash in a freezer you cant put anywhere else, surely he knew it was wrong. It seems they ALL have more time for lobbyists from out of their state, AND country in this case, than voters opinions in or out of their districts.

The question is not which party got caught this time. Is it the party that is corrupt, or the individual politician? Let’s look at each person as an individual. Don’t forget, we are all innocent until proven guilty in this country.

Sorry to hear was a black Democrat who got “caught”. Now when will Bush be investigated for his no-bid dealings with Halliburton et al in Iraq and Katrina? There is so much coverup and secrets in this administration, they’ve burned out different press secretaries, now they’ve employed another Snow job to prevent “leaks”. With their constant obsfication and nefarious “security” excuses preventing scrutiny on their own backdoor deals and classification to “secrets” – I doubt we’ll ever know in our lifetimes, only the whitewashed “legacy” version.

Thank you FBI. Let’s not stop with this one, there is plenty more of this going on and we all know it. The next generation sees this happening and thinks it is alright, especially when they know they will only get a slap on the hand. When someone commits a crime, they loose their rights, that most lawyers think they have, and should be punished accordingly.

One more reason the Democrats should not be so confident that they will win the majority in ’06.
Scandals, not backing the English language, and no strategy plans does not sound like a good recipe to me.

I’m glad they caught William Jefferson..It just goes to prove that they’re a lot of corrupted people in congress..I’m not saying they’re all no good but I do believe that the F.B.I. should investigate them from time to time. Good Job F.B.I.

I think that things like this go on in every day life, mabye not on this scale but on lower levels but every one in the government is currupt! no doubt. my local government just over taxed us over 3 million dolars to build a new city office building. also the voters did not want a super walmart and guess what we are getting a super walmart!

I have OFTEN had to actually look up a congressman’s or senator’s website to find out their party affiliation, because the media outlet didn’t provide any at all. More often than not, it was in the case of a Republican official. Keep your eyes open aways, Mike, don’t just pay attention where it suits you to do so.

Democrat, Republican, who cares. If an elected official of our government breaks the law they should be held accountable, period. Additionally, accountability should be at all levels of government, all the way to the top, democratic or republican! If all we read is the individual’s party affiliation, we are missing the point and should be ashamed of ourselves!

I served in the Navy to protect the rights of individuals. One of those rights is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. We try to many cases through the media these days. Just because someone is under investigation doesn’t mean they are guilty. However, I applaud the FBI for the investigation. It does not matter who, everyone should be held accountable for their actions and if proven guilty of the charges made against them, be punished accordingly.

When an article cites “(D-La)” that’s telling you both party affiliation and state. In the case of this article, that would be after the 11th word, i.e. in the very first sentence. That’s where it always is–immediately after the first instance of a Congressperson’s name in any article mentioning them. Basic high school journalism class lesson.

i think this congressman is the one who commandered a coast guard helicopter to take him to his house during Katrina–can anyone confirm?
i agree–jail the crooks!! all of them.

Is anyone wondering why the Fed’s are slow to move money into LA now? You cannot be surprised at this corruption from the state that perfected it!

here comes the race card.

Everybody now, “one, two, three”, “let’s hear the “race card”.

Sometimes you would think our Congress is the US verison of the “Royal Family” with “Prince Hastert” and “Prince Frist” sticking it to the us taxpayer peon’s at every opportunity.

Just wait. The next defense from Congressman Jefferson will be that this is all a racial attack.

makes you wonder if Jefferson was retreiving some ill gotten loot, after hurrricane Katrina , when he had the National guard take him to his house and was airlifted out , after flood waters got to high. ???

Only 533 more to go! Good work FBI. Now, lets get the RICO act going on those members colluding with big business to keep the illegal tide flooding – expecially those members that want to provide amnesty to the criminals that hire illegals
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!

Well:
Congressman Jefferson committed the two most serious sins that a politician could make:
1. He did not hire a “bag man.”
2. He did not spread around the graft.

Thanks Judy, for stating the obvious which apparently the rest of the posters missed: “accountability should be at all levels of government, all the way to the top, democratic or republican!” Turning any corruption event into a partisan issue breeds further corruption.

I’ll bet you can’t find a paper-shredder in D.C. right now for all the tea in China. Don’t you know that if these “honorable” congresspeople see that not even their temple (sorry, office) is safe from scrutiny, then they better get rid rid of tons of documents…and QUICK!

If the lawyers would have turned over what was requested they would not have had to go get it. Why are these people (politicians) any different from non elected Americans? We have no problem going into Ken Lay’s office with a search warrant. William Jefferson appears to be deeply involved in bad stuff and he needs to be held accountable.
I guess the only real uproar will be from people like Reid, Pelosi, and Dean who will have to bite their tongues while uttering the words “Republican culture of corruption.”

The real issue is not whether Jefferson is a crook — the courts can decide that, if he is, he should resign and be prosecuted.
The real issue here is that the executive branch sent it’s police force, in the form of the FBI, into a Congressional Office, an incredible violation of the separation of powers principle.
Where was the Capitol Police? They should never have allowed the FBI entry into a Hill office building. In fact, on Saturdays, in general, you have to be either staff or a member to even be in there.

To the person who said the “Democrat” label wasn’t mentioned until the last paragraph — what do you think (D-LA) means in the FIRST sentence? Duhhh.

Is it any surprise we have inefective government and bribery scandals? People are more concerned with their favorite poltical team like it was the yankees vs the red sox. We are so polarized there is no room for issues not even criminal felonies, they don’t matter. All that matters is which side you belong to. We need both parties and not more. We also need the people to be concerned about the things they believe and not what color they want their state to be. I want less taxes and social welfare, I want more sceurity tougher borders. Laws should be upheld, the environment should be protected, schools should be funded, but i can’t have any of these on either side. Think about it you fans of a “party”.

“Yet another instance of the very real liberal bias in the media….”?
Perhaps if you checked, this article mentioned that Jefferson was a Democrat in its first paragraph as represented by “(D-LA)”. Before criticizing something which is presented to you, please get your opposing facts straight.
I still fail to see where you find a “liberal bias” in this article however. Please elaborate without quoting “liberal bias” more than once, “fair and balanced” even once, “9/11″, and “you endanger our national security by not standing with this President” and perhaps we can start a rational conversation.

Perhaps if you checked, this article mentioned that Jefferson was a Democrat in its first paragraph as represented by “(D-LA)”. Before criticizing something which is presented to you, please get your opposing facts straight.
I still fail to see where you find a “liberal bias” in this article however. Please elaborate by quoting “liberal bias”, “fair and balanced”, “9/11″, and “you endanger our national security by not standing with this President” and perhaps we can start a rational conversation.

Liberal Bias in the media?
to those claiming liberal bias dues to late mention of the fact that he’s a Democrat – what do you think “(D-LA)” after his name in the FIRST sentence means? Geeze.

I concur with Judi … who cares about party affiliation, Republican or Democrat. It does not matter! Root out all the corrupt politicians. The risk we run ultimately might be no one left to represent us, but from my perspective they’re not representing my values anyhow.

for the posters who think the media is so liberal that they don’t mention whether the person in question is a democrat or republican: what do you think the (D-LA) after Jefferson’s name means? it means he is a DEMOCRAT. and for the record it was the 11th word grouping in the article. democrat or republican? i agree with steinbach, they are all a bunch of crooks.

Depressing that a group of approxiamately 30 can’t even leave the partisanship part out of the arguement. You sit and wonder why Capitol Hill can’t get anything done when half of these blogs have been people passing blame between the two parties.
Hello! This man, an elected official, committed a crime…isn’t that what we should be focusing on?
Tsk tsk tsk on you all!

Um, it mentions his party affiliation in the first sentence.

Strange how upset Congress gets when law enforcement wants to search one of their own but Congress has no problem giving law enforcement the ability to search a private citizens home with the “look and see” authority. Search the offices of the entire Congress & I would bet at least 50% are guilty of similar crimes – irregardless of party affiliation, race, creed, or religion.

Jefferson’s party affiliation is mentioned in the first sentence…(D-LA).

These Brian Ross “investigative” stories are the shortest and least informative things I read. A few tidy and simple paragraphs. Why is this guy being investigated? This “investigative” section is such a waste.

Seems like Michael and others are more worried whether its a Democrat or Republican, not whether it was a crime. This is the exact attitude thats makes these politicians think they can get away with things like this! DA!

WOW! I am from Louisiana and unfortunately this is politics as usual.
I think the F.B.I.is doing a good job in routting out those corrupt politicien who pertray themselfs as being ethical and hornest.For once i appluded the goverment. Thank God something is being done to make our goverment officials accountible for thier worng doing. Thank God

Liberal Bias?
What the hell is anyone thinking on that.
There’s five or six corporations who OWN the media. That’s it sheepeople.
Those corporations line the pockets of the GOP. That’s a fact.
Do you really think GE (a defense contractor) who owns NBC, is going to go against it’s own interests?
NBC is kissing the bottoms of the GOP, and believe me they’re full of them.
This DEM should be burned at the stake. If by some crazy conspiracy he’s been framed, then too bad. Adios amigo.
It’s a message to all the dems to keep it clean or go down like the GOP who came before you.
The crosshairs should have no bias.
Unfortunately the media has sooooo many GOP idiot foalups to cover it can’t keep up, even if they weren’t owned by corporate america.
I damn well know Clinton signed the ’96 Telecommunications Act, and I think it’s the worst thing he did.
In the upcoming primaries I’m only voting progressive and NO DINOs.
While I have to look close at DEMS, I don’t have to look at GOP candidates at all. Their 100% currupt. That’s the kind of party you get when corportate america is your puppet master.

I believe that the FBI did a great job in rooting out corruption,even the corruption apparently condoned by the House General Council office. Who do these politicians ,on either side of the aisle, think they are ?? For sure, if the FBI did not stop these crooks they would rob us all blind! Thank you, FBI.

Makes one wonder what the neocons did with the 57 million in illegal campaign cash located in Mexico at the time of Watergate. It has been alleged that 40 million of it was paid to Iran as a bribe to insure the Iran hostages were not released until Jan. 1981.

Makes one wonder why no one is interested in the origin of the $2 million which Nancy Reagan accepted in Tokyo on behalf of her husband. A Japanese company did the laundering and it was delivered to Nancy in Tokyo allegedly to escape scrutiny by the US Treasury.

If it turns out he was going to spend the money on hookers, can we all go home?

Gee… Do these polititians really get prosecuted? I thought they just get shamed to the point of resignation or voted out of office.

I agree with all the caution the Feds are taking with the money they are pouring into MY State, Louisiana.
I KNOW FOR A FACT, A ROCK SOLID FACT, THAT THERE ARE ALREADY OVER 1200 FEMA FRAUD CASES TO PROSECUTE IN LOUISIANA. THATS RIGHT I SAID 1200.
IM A REPUBLICAN AND YOU CAN CRITISIZE THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION, UNTIL THE LAST DAY OF OFFICE, FOR ANY AND ALL OF ITS CONCERNS AND CAUTION ABOUT SENDING MONEY TO LOUISIANA. THE FRAUD IS PUBLIC RECORD NOW. NAGIN AND BLANCO CAN SCREAM ALL THEY WANT I DON’T CARE AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU. ITS OUR MONEY.

Once the FBI finshes with the politicians then they can start on the so called “Journalists” that leak secrets and try to politize news. But wait, that would be most of then. How would we get the new then?

Actually, they mention that Jefferson is a Democrat in the first sentence–(D-LA). Doh!

Let’s face it – both parties have their fair share of crooks and itiots.
I’m waiting with baited breath for that race card to be played. Does anyone take it seriously anymore? He who cries wolf . . . Personally, I think that Race Card is a Joker.

For those of you who keep wondering why the feds went into his office to get the items, the answer is in the article:
“But officials say the House lawyers then refused to turn over the documents to the FBI.”
If they would not turn them over the FBI had to get a warrant to go get them. I am sure that there were warrants issued to secure the tapes Nixon had. No one cried about one branch of government going after another back then. Why? Because they are supposed to provide checks and balances. Of those, law enforcement comes into play.
Should a politician be immune from a search just because he is a politician? I think not. If he were accused of murder and they thought the murder weapon was in his office do you think they would go search for it or take someone’s word that everything would be brought out. The police do not give you a chance to clean up evidence before they execute a warrant on your home and they should not hesistate just because it is a Congressman’s office.
As many other have said, crime is crime and it does not matter what party you are in. Vote them all out and get fresh faces.

Ok. I admit it. I’m a conservative. That said? Get off the “liberal bias” and “culture of corruption” bandwagons people. The fact of the matter is, we are all still watching TV and we’re all still not voting the corrupt morons out of office! Want to end liberal bias? Stop buying the products advertised on TV and stop buying leftist entertainment. Want to end the culture of curruption? Stop giving the voters the choice between loud-mouth-know-it-all socialists and crooks good at covering their rear ends. It’s that simple.
Don’t listen to the press and they’ll start changing their approach.
As for corrupt politicians, the liberals are going to have to face the reality of choice. Sure, you can keep on offering fanatics that want to impose their way of life on the rest of the nation. But given the choice between a socialist lunatic and a sane crook? Most people will choose a thief over fanatics that remind us of Kim Jon Il, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, etc. And that fact is pretty common throughout the world. In fact, look at Mexico. They’d rather keep voting for crooks than deal with the next Stalin or Ahmadinejad.
At the end of the day, you know who is responsible for what our government does?
Us.

By the way …
I’ve been reading the feedback from this article most of the day. I was surprised when a lot of posts started noting that the first sentence noted this congressman was a Democrat because … when I first read the story, I was looking, too, to see his party affiliation. It was not in the first sentence earlier, folks. Not that I care, I’m just pointing out the facts.
Need proof?
There are posts from prior to 12:00 PM.
The by line says the story was posted at:
May 22, 2006 1:41 PM
So?
Ahem. I guess just make of it as you wish.

This is the gent who commandeered a National Guard 5 ton truck to take him to his house while the Katrina rescue was still going on. He stayed in his house for 1 hour then when the vehicle tried to leave, it got stuck in his still flooded front yard. The congressman then demanded that he be taken out by helicopter and a Coast Guard rescue mission was diverted to winch Jefferson to safety. The National Guard troops stayed with the truck. He took a computer from the house. How much did this cost? How many Katrina victums had to wait while Jefferson tried to cover his tracks at his home.
Wonder when we’ll here more about this?

Oh – maybe that’s why the media’s not as relevant anymore. If they’re just the middlemen, I think we all know the effects of the ‘truth’ when filtered through sources with agendas.
And I think MSM outlets expose biased views in the news they choose to pursue.
Either way – most nightly news pull a share in the teens, which means anywhere from 5-7% of Americans turn to them for their news. So calling it MSM is really just giving more relevance to a foundering medium than it really deserves.

what or who constitutes bribery in
any part of the current or past
u.s.a. governmental elected offices ? where did it all begin ?
which congress persons took thousands millions to support or
vote for something to receive gifts money or futher political
favors. who should i or you name
first ? we probably should have
5-6 hundred fbi raids and to start
correctly in the interest of all
citizens why not start at the top
ask judges to open up all communications of the bush family
including this widely suspected
president and his entire staff.
if they have nothing to hide then
the current use of fbi/cia in
the country should not cause them
concern. what is bridery ! in
this president’s ” base ” method
of decision making. how about some
investigation into the ” bush base “. some honest congress person request a judge’s order for
that. who bribes who ? it’ all
out of control ! it’s a result of
a president obsessed with himself,
personal gain and totally without
care for 95% of the citizens who
now live in our once proud united
states of america. i think the
president should make a careful
statement to the citizens today
and give his explanation and
defination of bribery ? how does
suspision of bribery measure to
other many suspisions of your
government officials under your
term in office president bush ?

Oh, poor Mr. Jefferson…they searched his Hill office. It’s probably where he was hiding the rest of the bribe money. I don’t know why you’d bribe a Democrat, but they did anyway.

Several folks mentioned accountability. This is a curious term. We want accountability when it comes to alleged corruption, but, it seems, not to the congress as a whole.
I am thinking specifically about the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The only part of the act that worked was the amnesty. There was no oversight by congress nor by 3 presidents. Is it possible that congress never really intended to ensure the sanctions against employers and strengthening of our borders took place? Frankly, I believe that the IRCA was a fraud and a con job. Two decades later the senate talks much about our broken immigration system. Where were the legislative and executive branches all these years? They both failed to see millions and millions of border crossers and visa overstays? They failed to grasp catch and release?
A pox on both their houses.

It’s odd that polemics are cast aside only in the instance when our elected representatives are held in the same legal light as those who elect them. You will never see them cooperate so fully and fight so voraciously as when they fear being treated as common, ordinary and average American citizens.

Corruption, turning a blind eye to illegals, rampant spending, waste, etc.
The only way to get our country back on track is for us, the ordinary citizens, to actually vote a change in Washington. We need a government that puts the best interest of the country above politics. Only a handful of the current members of Congress get it. Unfortunately, our political process protects those in office, making change extremely difficult.
There is hope… In PA, we recently threw out a few state legislators who granted themselves a hefty midnight pay raise a year ago. It included the top 2 republicans. The top Dems, who also supported the raise, weren’t voted out (Can you believe that?) ;)
CONCLUSION: WE NEED A NEW NATIONAL PARTY that work for the people and not special interests. Maybe, with the help of the internet, we can succeed.

A more comprehensive news report should have stated the FBI had searched the Congressmans home prior to Katrina as part of their on-going investigation of his activities even prior to that time. Then you have the National Guard being dupped by the Congressman intially to “see his district” only to direct the Guard to take a side trip to his home “rescue” some rather heavy
(according to the Guard)containers with unknown contents.
Now, we have even more questions surfacing with the Congressman
personally picking up (purportedly) a “bag full of $100,000″ from an FBI plant of which $90,000. is reported to have been recovered from the gentleman from Louisiana’s freezer in his home. Sort of re-enforces the meaning of “cold, hard cash” again.
As to the partisan barbs. IMHO the politicians are themselves responsible for much of the friction being exibited here and elsewhere. Does a Statesman attempt to label an entire group of individuals as “corrupt”? Or do politicians do this in the hope of manipulting the population and regaining a position with control over money and power over decisions. The political dialogue over the last ten to fifteen years appears (to me) to have deteriorated considerably. I fear what continuing in this direction will bring to our (collectively) country. Civility isn’t bad. You can still agree to disagree, without resorting to personal emotional reactions, This is how violence starts. Its like little kids that begin with name calling and hopefully it ends with a fight. Unfortunately we’re already seeing some situations that have gone far beyond a fight and ended very tragically.
Unfortunately, this is where we have arrived with the two party “system we have. The impression I have is, these two partys place being in power far above any concern for the welfare,
safety or betterment of our country. Case in point, if they really were concerned for our countrys safety they would be addressing concerns for all of our borders. Could it be we are being distracted by all the fanfare and whoopla about “uninvited intruders”. Apparently, terrorists only will come into our country via Mexico even while Canada has a very liberal immigration policy. Hello Washington!!!
And why are we rewarding the “uninvited intruders” with any program for citizenship when others have been waiting for months and sometimes years for the “right” to enter our country.
Could it be the politicians have done their research and realized that certain ethic groups are the fastest growing population in our country and they won’t take a stand on issues that might endanger potential votes now or in the future. If this is the case, then the question must be asked if this represents all of our citizens interests first. If the answer is no, then the question of why is in order. Equally, if they were performing all their swore duties wouldn’t you think they would be certain the laws they passed were being enforced to the letter (e.g. the earlier law they wrote, amended, passed and had the President sign into law stated certain actions would be taken against employers hiring individuals who were in our country illegally. Yet, these same “lawmakers” wrote no provisions to verify any of their potential employees and even wrote that an employer was not responsible if they “didn’t know. Isn’t this enabling law breakers?
Isn’t this writing a law that you know will rarely if ever be enforced because the “out” is, you didn’t know?
Had Congressman (respect for the office) Jefferson applied himself to more of the issues of our country he might have avoided his confrontation with the FBI. this is true for Mr. Cunningham as well.
I urge all of us to work towards civility. We won’t always agree, but at minimum we should be able to discuss both our likes and dislikes without labeling each other our groups in one blistering accusation.
I heard mention of “reporting the news”. What ever happened to investigative reporting (e.g. ground pounding to turn up facts and information) rather than tearing something off an AP,
UPI or Rueters printer and re-writing it to suit your personal, corporately guided or political interests.

How interesting that both Democrats and Republicans came together in Congress to denounce anything that might help to uncover the types of crimes they’re EQUALLY guilty of! Great job FBI! Hope the good work is only beginning! There’s SO MUCH filth to clean up!

Good for the FBI, It doesn’t matter which party he belongs to he need to be GONE. Now if you want to see real corruption, look at local politics, especially were one party Dominates.
Good Job FBI

Someone along the line here noticed that the story has changed. Comments before the 1:41pm byline talk about the missing “Democrat” tag until the last paragraph. After 1:41pm everybody sees the “D-La” in the beginning, but it’s no longer at the end.
Apparently, Brian changed his mind about how relevant it is. Why didn’t it occur to the copy editor?

Rep. Jefferson was given $100,000 to “facilitate” a Nigerian telecom deal for what he thought was a US business. The $100,000 was meant to got to the Nigerian Vice President, whose home in Potomac, MD has also been searched. Jefferson apparently lied when he said that the payment to the Nigerian VP had been made — he had $90k of the grease money in his freezer. Another man who has already plead guilty to a number of crimes has alleged that he gave Jefferson $400,000 to facilitate business dealings in Nigeria.
Jefferson is going to jail for a long, long time, as he should. This is a HUGE story of corruption in our government. All Americans should be ashamed of this story, and should be crying out for blood. Other members of Congress are on notice that their behavior is under scrutiny, and that their position will not shield them from investigation.

Okay, fair is fair… so how about having the FBI raid Dick Cheney’s office so we can finally know what he’s hiding from us about the machinations of his National Energy Policy Development Group?

The FBI has film and audio tape of the man excepting bribes. Businesses involved have pled guilty already to bribing the man. He wasn’t even an honest crook, he kept 90% of the money he was intended to pass on as bribes to Afican leaders for himself hiding 90000 dollars in his freezer. Now his fellow congress men are screaming that this is unfair intimidation of the legislative branch by the judicial branch, but Congress men are given quite a lot. Who else can vote their own raises? No one gets a retirement program like they do. They serve one term and they are set for life. So I say screw them. If I had their deal my nose would be so clean they could search me everyday of the week. He wanted more, he acted illegally to get it and he should pay the consequences. If the FBI raided your house or mine for evidence no one would be defending us. Supposedly they are citizens just like you and me and they should be treated no differently under the law. I don’t give a damn if he is a Democrat or a Republican, I’m disgusted with both parties. Maybe its time for a 3rd party, we’ll call them humans.

The separation of powers violation in this case is even more disturbing than the scenario Paul set out, as in the Capitol Police ransacking Karl Rove’s office. It is so if only because the executive branch has such vast police power — Congress has the Capitol Police, and the Supremes have their own police force, but the President has the entire military, not to mention FBI, CIA, NSA, Border Patrol, etc.
When the respect for other branches of government breaks down — so does our republican form of government (small R republican).

Wah Wah Wah
Congresspersons should not expect to be exempted from having their living or working environments searched for evidence if a properly obtained warrant has been issued/granted to a law enforcement entity and its officers.
Congress is only upset because now they know they will have to perform the duties of their offices on the up and up.

1. the executive branch went in only afer the judicial branch gave the o.k. Sounds to me like two branches checking the power of the third.
2.Yes, Mr jefferson used a nat. guard 5-ton truck to drive to his white neighborhood 5000 sq. foot Mansion, wouldn’t let any troops in the house, removed several boxes of files, got the truck stuck and refused to leave by coast guard chopper without all of his stuff.
3. EVERYBODY in washington has a scandal/skeleton in there closet. It depends on who/how much they ticked someone off whether it is revealed or not.

It’s silly to discuss political affiliation in this thread. The main point is that a corrupt politician was caught. I applaud the actions of the FBI and sincerely hope that the congress does not strong-arm them into giving up the fight. They try to say that this violates the separation of powers, but what it really shows is that congress believes that it is above the law and cannot be touched. Thank you FBI for showing them that they are a government OF the people, not ABOVE the people.