Jerry Markon and R. Jeffrey Smith
The Washington Post
January 18, 2011
A constitutional clash over whether lawmakers are immune from many forms of Justice Department scrutiny has helped derail or slow several recent corruption investigations of House members, according to court documents and sources.
At issue is a provision in the Constitution known as the “speech or debate” clause, which shields legislative work from executive branch interference. House members have increasingly asserted the privilege in corruption probes, often citing a 2007 court ruling that said FBI agents violated the Constitution when they searched the office of then-Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.).
The Justice Department warned at the time that the court decision would “seriously and perhaps even fatally” undermine congressional corruption probes by limiting the FBI’s ability to search for evidence and use wiretaps.
Since then, speech-or-debate challenges have killed an investigation of former representative Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), hampered probes of Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) and former representative John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), and slowed a pending corruption case against former representative Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), sources familiar with those inquiries said.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!
