Pushing Rope: FDLE Stalled By House In Mark Foley Investigation

The House of Representatives will not allow the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to examine Mark Foley's congressional computer. Dennis Hastert and Nancy Pelosi took a similar stance after William Jefferson's office was raided by the FBI. The raid was done with a legal warrant after $90,000 was found in Jefferson's freezer.

Hastert and Pelosi issued this joint press release after the FBI raid.

"The Justice Department was wrong to seize records from Congressman Jefferson's office in violation of the Constitutional principle of Separation of Powers, the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, and the practice of the last 219 years. These constitutional principles were not designed by the Founding Fathers to place anyone above the law. Rather, they were designed to protect the Congress and the American people from abuses of power, and those principles deserve to be vigorously defended."

"Accordingly, the Justice Department must immediately return the papers it unconstitutionally seized. Once that is done, Congressman Jefferson can and should fully cooperate with the Justice Department's efforts, consistent with his constitutional rights."

"In addition, the Justice Department must immediately cease any further review of the documents it unconstitutionally seized, ensure that those who have reviewed the documents do not divulge their contents to the investigators, and move in Court to vitiate the search warrant."