Jefferson, House Leaders Want Items Back

U.S. Rep. William Jefferson Wednesday filed a motion in a Washington court seeking the return of items taken in an FBI raid on his Capitol Hill office.

The motion, filed with the same judge who issued the warrant authorizing the Saturday night search of Jefferson’s office, called the action an unprecedented search that offends the separation of powers embodied in the U.S. Constitution and said the search violates congressional immunity, CNN reported.

The FBI raid was part of an investigation into bribery allegations.

Also on Wednesday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a joint statement calling on the Justice Department to return items taken from Jefferson’s office. Hastert and Pelosi said the raid violates constitutional separation of powers.

These constitutional principles were not designed by the Founding Fathers to place anyone above the law, said the statement. Rather, they were designed to protect the Congress and the American people from abuses of power, and those principles deserve to be vigorously defended.

Hastert and Pelosi demanded the immediate return of items taken from Jefferson’s office, and said the Justice Department should cease further review of documents and see to it that officials who have already reviewed the documents do not disclose their contents to investigators.