Judge rules FBI raid on Hill office legal

A federal judge in Washington yesterday said the FBI’s search of Rep. William J. Jefferson’s Capitol Hill offices in a bribery investigation — which ignited a firestorm of protest in Congress — was legal and denied efforts by defense attorneys to have the seized documents returned.

So much for Congressional privilige in this sort of thing. I guess $90,000 in “cold cash” stuck in the freezer is a bit much even for a federal judge to swallow.

U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas Hogan, in a 28-page opinion, described the “facts and questions of law presented” by the May 20 weekend raid on the Louisiana Democrat’s office as “indeed unprecedented,” but said it was “well-established” that a member of Congress was as bound to criminal laws “as are ordinary persons.”

What a concept! Congresscritters subject to the same law as us peasants…er…”ordinary persons”!