Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Bungling Villainy with Transparent Motive

Understanding the motive is key when it comes to unlocking the criminal mind. The FBI raid on Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) congressional office is a case in point. I'm not talking about Jefferson, greedy little bastard covers his motives pretty completely (allegedly). I'm thinking about House Speaker Dennis Hastert's reaction.

Hastert has demanded that the FBI return all the materials they seized and that all the agents investigating Jefferson be "frozen out of the case." Hastert alludes to the Constitution in his demand. The Constitution does apply here, as it does always in the country.
(Senators and Representatives) shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
~ U.S. Constitution - Article I, Section 6, Clause 1
Rep. Jefferson is being investigated for several felonies. He has no constitutional privilege. So, why is Hastert in such a snit defending a felonious Democrat?

Between the Jack Abramoff case and Duke Cunningham's scandal, there are dozens of Republican congressmen facing felony indictment. Hastert wants to use the investigation of a Democrat to squelch all of the ongoing investigations of Republican corruption. The compromise he is seeking is for the FBI to pledge to not seek any additional subpoenas for Congressional offices. Hastert is using the Jefferson case to appear altruistic. His true motive is to protect his Republican colleagues in their criminal conduct.

Update via ThinkProgress: It turns out that Dennis Hastert is the target of an FBI probe related to the Abramoff scandal. So, Denny is not just trying to protect his criminal colleagues, he is covering his own sorry ass.
And they all lived together in a crooked little house. ~ Nursery Rhyme
tag: , , ,

No comments: