Constitutional Issues

A number of senior Republicans in the Congress have complained that the search of Representative Jefferson's offices violated constitutional protections of the legislature from the executive branch. This one is likely going to end up in the Supreme Court from the look of it. Regardless of the outcome of that battle, when and if it occurs, the Democrats have an enormous problem on their hands right now.

In a news conference Monday, Jefferson repeated his denial of any wrongdoing and vowed to seek reelection in November. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) worked through intermediaries last night to try to persuade Jefferson to temporarily step aside as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, according to Democratic aides.

This will not be taken well by average voters, whether the Democratic party is able to see that or not. The naked politics of demanding "accountability" from the President while playing nice with fellow party members who keep large sums of cash in the freezer, looks very bad indeed.

I think the Democrats really blew it on this one and it's likely too late to fix the damage.

UPDATE: From the Big Lizards – That WILL leave a mark.

UPDATE: Raw Story reports Pelosi has asked Jefferson to step down from the Ways and Means committee. He has refused. They have copies of the correspondence.

UPDATE: Apparently Dennis Hastert isn't very good at thinking this one through.