Corruption

I was reading the Washington Post this morning and they report the 'speech or debate' clause that was was created to protect Congress from interference from frivolous lawsuits, is increasingly broadly interpreted and is making it difficult for the Justice Department to pursue corruption charges against several members of Congress. A court decision regarding an investigation targeting Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., expanded the scope of protection under the clause, making many kinds of communications off limits for prosecutors.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, tried to use the clause to have evidence against him thrown out but has so far been unsuccessful. Stevens was found guilty of lying about accepting favors last week but has vowed to fight on, both in the courtroom and the campaign trail. The NYT says leading Republicans have denounced Stevens and many believe he would be expelled from the Senate even if he were re-elected.

But then there is still Rick Renzi, (R), the latest member of congress to be investigated for corruption, and John Doolittle (R), Ton DeLay (R), Jerry Lewis (R), Jack Kingston (R),and former legislator Dennis Hastert (R) all being investigated for corruption and all using this obscure clause to try to avoid prosecution.