Hastert tells President Bush FBI raid was unconstitutional

The Hill reports:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) told President Bush yesterday that he is concerned the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid on Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) congressional office over the weekend was a direct violation of the Constitution.

Hastert raised concerns that the FBI’s unannounced seizure of congressional documents during a raid of Jefferson’s Rayburn office Saturday night violated the separation of powers between the two branches of government as they are defined by the Constitution.

“The Speaker spoke candidly with the president about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s raid over the weekend,” Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said yesterday in confirming his boss’s remarks.

Hastert told reporters yesterday that he understands the reasons for the investigation but objected to the manner in which the raid was conducted. >>>More

I have questions for Hastert, who is so upset aboutthe infringement of Congress' right to a "co-equal" status with the Executive Branch who launched the raid. (Thank you Thom Hartmann for asking these questions Thursday on Randi Rhodes' show):

Where were you when we lost the liberty of the separation of powers on Sept. 15, 2001, when congress abdicated its oversight responsibilities of the President of the United States giving Bush carte blanche to declare war on anybody anywhere?

Where were you on Sept 21, 2001 when the rights of immigrants in an open democracy where slammed shut because the chief immigration judge ordered deportation proceedings closed? No more open trials.

Where were you when October 11, 2002 when John Ashcroft generated a memo reducing government compliance with freedom of information requests...simply just ignoring the law...?

Where were you on October 26, 2001 when the Patriot's Act was passed?

Thom Hatrmann also asks:

"Where was Denny Hastert with his overblown concerns about separation of powers when our privacy rights were knocked out with the Patriot Act? Expanding wiretap provisions, reducing judicial review, allowing law enforcement to indefinately detain non-citizens based on SUSPICION of terrorism. Authorizing "sneak and peek" searches without a warrant; defining domestic terrorism as something that allows them to bust people who are protesting outside a local fur shop; and sharing information with intelligence agencies that can conceivably lead to a coup within the United States."