UPDATE and bump to top, scroll to bottom of post for more

As you may have heard, the FBI raided Representative William Jefferson’s (D-LA) office in the Rayburn House Office Building this past Saturday evening. According to CNN.com:

Federal agents searched the Capitol Hill office of a Louisiana congressman under investigation on bribery charges Sunday, while newly released court papers said agents found $90,000 in cash last year in his Washington home.

In a 95-page affidavit used to obtain a warrant for the office search, investigators stated that an August 2005 search of Democratic Rep. William Jefferson’s home turned up the cash sum in a freezer.

The money was divided among various frozen food containers, according to the heavily redacted affidavit.
[…]
The cloud over Jefferson comes as Democratic leaders have been attacking what they call a “culture of corruption” surrounding the Republican leadership in Congress.

With midterm elections in November, Democrats are trying to highlight GOP ties to the influence-peddling investigation surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in a Texas court, and last year’s guilty plea of California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, now serving an eight-year stretch for taking bribes from defense contractors.

So far, so good, right? The FBI performing its lawful duty by executing a search warrant on a corrupt public official.

Not so fast. According to GOPUSA.com (quoting a UPI story), both Democrat and Republican leaders are condemning the raid:

The raid also drew criticism from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who said congressional lawyers have been asked to probe the legality, the Post said.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., also issued a statement denouncing the raid.

“Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this separation of powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by members of Congress,” he said.

“Crossing this separation of powers line”? What has a raid on a Representative’s office got to do with the separation of powers? Who’s going to investigate the matter if the FBI doesn’t?

What bothers me about this is that, as GOPUSA notes, this is “bipartisan outrage”. Why should that bother me? Because it seems to stem from the innate elite arrogance of elected representatives. What they seem to be saying is, “How dare you investigate us! We’re above the law!” Coming on the heels of the still-undecided Cynthia McKinney fracas and the kid-glove treatment of Patrick Kennedy over a recent DUI incident, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by the response. After all, they’re only politicians. It’s not like most of them have any real moral convictions at all, right?

All I know is that I’m seeing Animal Farm relived live and in Washington D.C. And it sure seems more and more that while “all of us are equal”, the pigs in Washington are proving to be ”more equal than others”.

Update: Methinks thou dost protest too much! Captain’s Quarters makes the point that the Legislature is forever issuing subpoenas against the Executive Branch, but now they have a problem with the reverse, citing “Separation of Powers”? What a bunch of hypocrites!

Others blogging the issue: The Moderate Voice, Gun Toting Liberal, African-American [Black] Opinion

Technorati: FBI, Bill Frist, Dennis Hastert, William Jefferson, corruption

TD