WSJ.com - Lawmaker Raid May Come Back to Bite Bush

WSJ.com - Lawmaker Raid May Come Back to Bite Bush

WASHINGTON -- The recent FBI raid of a congressman's office is fueling a power struggle between Congress and the administration that could hobble President Bush in his efforts to move his legislative agenda.
In hopes of easing tensions, President Bush yesterday ordered frozen all documents taken by federal agents during Saturday's search of the office of Louisiana Democrat Rep. William Jefferson, who is being investigated for taking bribes. The documents will now be sealed for 45 days, which the president hopes will provide a cooling off period.
The president had good reasons to act. The fracas turned into a near-open revolt yesterday among House Republicans -- normally the White House's staunchest backers -- who were infuriated by a news report that Speaker Dennis Hastert himself was a subject of the federal corruption probe.
Even though the Justice Department denied the report, Mr. Hastert, in a Chicago radio interview yesterday, accused Justice of leaking the report to try to silence his criticism of the Jefferson raid. "This is one of the leaks that come out to try to, you know, intimidate people," Mr. Hastert said. "We're just not going to be intimidated on it."
The new tensions with Capitol Hill could have a real impact on the White House. Mr. Hastert, a burly former wrestling coach, has been one of the White House's best friends on Capitol Hill. As the Senate has been willing to challenge the White House, Mr. Hastert delivered a succession of legislative victories over the years to President Bush even when it meant bending the will of his own moderate or conservative wings.
For much of Mr. Bush's term, the president's aides and policies haven't been subject to the level of congressional oversight that critics have demanded. Now, more administration officials could find themselves being hauled before skeptical -- if not hostile -- oversight committees, such as the hearings scheduled by the House Judiciary Committee next week to review the Jefferson office raid. In press releases, Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R., Wyo.) has dubbed the hearings: "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?"
The battle could also embolden the Senate to pass a tougher version of legislation limiting the administration's ability to conduct domestic spying programs with the hope that the House would back them, rather than Mr. Bush, as it has in the past. And there could be more fights over spending bills, even as the spat could scuttle any hope of passing a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws, which the White House views as a key prong of its election strategy.
"The House is now faced with a reality of power," says former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a possible candidate for president in 2008 now working at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank. "Either they do things that involve appropriations or oversight that are real, or they earn the contempt with which they are being treated."
The ABC News Hastert report came the same day Mr. Hastert had joined with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in claiming the Jefferson raid violated the constitution because it represented an infringement by the executive branch into the realm of the legislative branch.
"Obviously they don't like to be challenged and they were by the most powerful people on the Hill," Rep. Ray LaHood (R., Ill.) said in an interview. "I think Justice pointed the gun at the wrong person this time."
Frustration between the House and the Justice Department stems in part from the probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Mr. Abramoff in January pleaded guilty to trying to bribe members of Congress, and has been cooperating with federal investigators. Much of the evidence that has emerged suggests Mr. Abramoff curried favor with lawmakers by shoving cash from his clients into their campaign accounts, providing flashy accommodations for fund-raisers, such as his own downtown restaurant or skyboxes for football or basketball games, and paying for expensive trips abroad.
For many lawmakers, the investigation seems to be moving from the most egregious practices of a few members to criminalizing some basic fund-raising and lobbying techniques. "There is widespread belief on the Hill that the Justice Department is out of control with this idea that campaign contributions equals bribery," noted one Republican close to the caucus.
Thus far, government attorneys haven't made such a claim in a case against a lawmaker. But several have been forced to publicly explain how campaign donations didn't affect their official acts and to turn over documents to the FBI to prove it.
FBI agents are also seeking to interview House and Senate members to see if they leaked information to the New York Times last year disclosing the administration's controversial program allowing some eavesdropping on domestic telephone calls. Justice officials have hinted that criminal charges could be lodged in that investigation.
"For an administration that needs allies in order to come back," the Justice Department's actions are "dumbfounding," says David Gergen, a veteran of Republican and Democratic administrations.
Mr. Bush has, in some ways, aggravated congressional Republicans since the beginning of his presidency, when he sought strict loyalty from legislative partisans, arguing that his success and theirs were inseparable. Now, many fear that they -- and not Mr. Bush -- will pay an electoral price for backing what is now an unpopular war in Iraq, and the president's plunging approval ratings.
Yesterday afternoon, House Republicans gathered in a windowless basement room for a private meeting aimed at sorting through the roller coaster of the past few days. They left the meeting carrying talking points from Republican leaders: "No one is above the law," the paper said. "Just as no branch of government is above the Constitution."