Public Fury, Private Whimpers

It appears that for all his blustery bluff, House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner desperately wants to have things both ways regarding the FBI search of Rep William Jefferson's office

Sensenbrenner has been the loyal lackey for W, a status it's obvious he still desires, in spite of his faux public outrage about the raid

And how do we know this?

There's Sensenbrenner's seemingly blunt public pronouncements

For all of the shifting landscape, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, a loyal White House ally, made his position clear with the title of Tuesday's hearing: "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?"

"The issues involved in this unprecedented action by the executive branch transcend any particular member," Sensenbrenner said Tuesday.

Considering the fact that Sensenbrenner's outrage over Constitutional violations doesn't extend to warrantless spying on the vast majority of US citizens, perhaps it's not surprising that he's trying to achieve results by NOT holding the Administration accountable with any meaningful legislative oversight of the Executive branch

Democrats said a member of the Bush administration, and not just legal experts, should have been called before the panel to answer for the raid.

"We've never been told why the search had to be done in the middle of the night," noted ranking Democrat John Conyers of Michigan. "We've never learned why the member in question was not permitted to have his attorneys present while his offices were searched for some 18 hours."

And which specific Dept of Justice documents have been subpeonaed by the House Judiciary Committee, well.......

One witness at the hearing, former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Pennsylvania, said Congress should play hardball in seeking answers to its questions by subpoenaing administration documents authorizing the raid.

Take that to mean NONE

And really now, if Sensenbrenner was trying to hold the Administration accountable, wouldn't the best time to do so be when public attention is at it's highest?

Sensenbrenner, said to be among the most exasperated House members by the May 20 raid, cut the Bush administration a break by holding the hearing during Congress' Memorial Day recess when Capitol Hill is a virtual ghost town.

So, apparently for Sensenbrenner, "Executive Branch Oversight"=NO Administration officials=No Administration/DoJ documents subpeonaed=holding a hearing during a Congressional recess

I'm sure the Administration is quaking in it's institutional boots with such strict oversight from the Congress