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House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Tuesday the Supreme Court probably will have to sort out the issues raised by the unprecedented FBI raid on the Rayburn Building office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.

"I've got to believe at the end of the day this is going to end up across the street at the Supreme Court," Boehner said. "I don't see anything short of it."

Boehner told reporters Tuesday that he supports the position of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., regarding the constitutional questions stirred up by the raid.

"I, clearly, had serious concerns about what happened and whether people at the Justice Department have looked at the Constitution lately," Boehner said, adding that he was "throttling himself back" at the advice of his staff to temper his comments on the issue.

Hastert said he will consult with Democratic leaders after a full review of the facts to decide how to proceed.

"I expect to seek a means to restore the delicate balance of power among the branches of government that the founders intended," Hastert said Monday. Boehner said the raid was not discussed when GOP leaders met with President Bush Tuesday.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also told reporters Tuesday that he shares the concerns of the speaker. As for Jefferson, Hoyer said House Democrats are unlikely to take any action against him unless he is indicted. "If he is charged, we may have to address that," he said.

Jefferson sits on the exclusive Ways and Means Committee.

COMMENTS

• This guy is probably as guilty as guilty gets, unless there is a conspiracy so off-the-wall as to be straight out of a script for Hollywood (highly doubtful). I don't have a problem with the FBI searching his office. However, this is what I have a problem with. With all the allegations surrounding Scooter Libby and Karl Rove, why can't the FBI search their offices? Or how about Dick Cheney's? Or, for that matter, how about the oval office? Can you imagine the amount of dirt on the Bush administration that they could dig up? It's glaringly obvious that this administration has broken more laws than any other in the history of the world. To anyone who cries foul at the thought of Dubya and Cheney having the offices and houses searched I say this: You can't have it both ways. David Posted May 24, 2006 4:05 PM
• The whole problem with our elected officials is the comment John Boehner made on this FBI search when he said he swears to uphold the Constitution. I just wonder when he and the other elected officials will start enforcing our immigration laws. “When I raise my right hand and swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States, I mean it,” Boehner said, referring to the oath members take at the beginning of each Congress. “[Justice Department employees] take the same oath, so somebody better start reading the Constitution down there.” Tom Lynch Posted May 24, 2006 1:20 PM
• Let me get this right: 1. The FBI video tapes the Congressman taking a bribe. 2. The FBI gets a search warrant(s), signed by a U.S. District Court Judge. 3. They execute the warrant(s) and they find the $100,000 that was used to bribe him in his refrigerator. 4. He admits that he will probably be indicted. And the members of Congress complain because the FBI legally executed a search warrant on a person who has committed a crime. Hmmmmm, and they wonder why people think that they are all criminals. The last time I read the Constitution, which was just before I wrote this, nothing in there says that the executive branch cannot conduct a criminal investigation into a member of the legislative branch, nor does it prohibit the execution of a lawful search warrant. And why are they complaining? They butt their noses into everything the executive branch does. Members of both houses of Congress has engaged in actions that a normal person would go to jail on. Let's take the recent Kennedy incident, where he crashes his car while drunk driving and then claims that he is headed for a vote at 2 a.m.! Or Ted Kennedy, while driving drunk, runs his car off a bridge and kills a woman. Or the congresswoman who assaults a Capitol Police officer and then says it's his fault! My final words are this: The guy is a crook and the FBI did its job, now get over it. GovExec.com reader Posted May 24, 2006 5:24 PM