Is the US Congress above the law?
Here’s an article on MSNBC about the investigation into former Rep. Mark Foley (R). Foley resigned after it was discovered that he was using IM to hit on congressional pages (i.e., young boys):
Police can’t examine Foley’s computer
Florida’s top police agency said Wednesday its investigation into former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley’s lurid Internet communications with teenage boys has been hindered because neither Foley nor the House will let investigators examine his congressional computers.
“We have requested to review federally owned computers that Mr. Foley used during his time as a representative, but the U.S. House of Representatives … cited case law restrictions that prohibited them from releasing those computers,” said Heather Smith, an FDLE spokeswoman.
Smith said that the House claims the computers are considered congressional work papers, and that only Foley can release them for review.
Foley is (was?) a Republican. The Democrats have their own issue too with Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. who is mired in a corruption scandal where he notoriously placed $90,000 in bribes in his freezer. “Dollar Bill” and “Cold Cash” Jefferson have become his nicknames.
The FBI raided his congressional office and the Republican leadership in the US House took the FBI to court to get the siezed documents back. The court ruled against the FBI and said that the FBI had violated the US Constitution citing the separation of the Executive Branch (Justice Dept/FBI) and the Legislative Branch (US Congress).
So my question is, can Congress just simply block all law enforcement activities against members of Congress? If a member (theoretically) decides to run a drug dealing operation out of his congressional office, is he/she now immune from prosecution?
And they wonder why Congressional approval polls are at their historical lows!
