Washington – Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner said Tuesday that he will summon Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller before his House panel to testify about their decision to search a lawmaker’s office.
“I want to have Attorney General Gonzales and FBI Director Mueller up here to tell us how they reached the conclusion they did,” said Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin lawmaker and one of President Bush’s most loyal House allies.
Gonzales has said the search of Rep. William Jefferson’s office was legal and necessary because the Louisiana Democrat had not cooperated with investigators’ efforts to gain access to evidence in a bribery probe. An affidavit on which the search warrant was based said investigators had found $90,000 stashed in the freezer of Jefferson’s house.
“We would certainly consider a request for a hearing if one were to be made,” said Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse, “We also hope that Congress recognizes it would inappropriate for a federal official to discuss the specific details of an ongoing criminal investigation in a public hearing.”
Even as Sensenbrenner, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced his hard line on the administration, congressional and Justice Department lawyers were working behind the scenes to meet on guidelines for any future searches.
Several investigations are in progress that involve members of Congress, including an influence-peddling probe centered on convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Elsewhere in Congress, lawmakers who had once criticized the May 20 search of Jefferson’s office were backing off.
Still others of both parties defended the search, saying an affidavit outlined charges that the Louisiana Democrat may have accepted bribes in exchange for his support of business dealings in Africa.
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., over the weekend backed off his statement of concern over the matter after meeting Friday with Gonzales. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said that there was precedent for one branch of government searching the quarters of another in a criminal investigation.
No one defended Jefferson. The eight-term congressman has denied wrongdoing.
The Justice Department filed court papers Tuesday opposing the congressman’s demand that property seized in the office raid be returned.
