| Judge rules FBI raid on congressman's office was legal |
| http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-26/1152563673322780.xml&storylist=louisiana |
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7/10/2006, 3:33 p.m. CT By TONI LOCY The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI raid on a Louisiana congressman's Capitol Hill office was legal, a federal judge ruled Monday. Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said members of Congress are not above the law. He rejected requests from lawmakers and Democratic Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office. In a 28-page opinion, Hogan dismissed arguments that the first-ever raid on a congressman's office violated the Constitution's protections against intimidation of elected officials. "Congress' capacity to function effectively is not threatened by permitting congressional offices to be searched pursuant to validly issued search warrants," said Hogan, who had approved the FBI's request to conduct the overnight search of Jefferson's office. Jefferson had sought the return of several computer hard drives, floppy disks and two boxes of paper documents that FBI agents seized during an 18-hour search of his Rayburn Building office. At issue was a constitutional provision known as the speech and debate clause, which protects elected officials from being questioned by the president, a prosecutor or a plaintiff in a lawsuit about their legislative work. |