Jefferson Indictment Aside, Speaker Pelosi Has Been on a Roll

• By Norman Ornstein
• Roll Call Contributing Writer
• June 6, 2007, Midnight

First, a few words on Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) indictment. The long delay before the indictment was almost certainly shaped by the ill-advised, rash and blundering raid by the Justice Department and FBI on Jefferson’s office in May 2006. Had that raid been done with any sensitivity to the Constitution and its Speech or Debate Clause, the evidence in the office would have been available to use much earlier.