The House has been obstructing Jefferson investigation for months

Byron York:

For most members of the public, the showdown between the House of Representatives and the Justice Department over the corruption investigation of Rep. William Jefferson began on May 21, when word got out that the FBI was searching Jefferson’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building. But the struggle actually began last August, when prosecutors first searched Jefferson’s homes in Louisiana and Washington and subpoenaed documents from his office. And it appears that the House of Representatives—not just Jefferson personally, but the House as an institution—has been resisting the Justice Department since virtually the beginning.

There is a little-known provision in House rules that requires both members and staff to notify the House if they receive a subpoena. This is done by a letter to the Speaker which is read in open session and then placed in the Congressional Record. On September 15, Jefferson wrote the following letter to Speaker Denny Hastert:

This is to notify you formally, pursuant to Rule VIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, that I have been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

I will make the determinations required by Rule VIII.

Jefferson’s letter was the standard form for such notifications; it is not all that unusual for House members or staff to receive subpoenas, and the usual procedure is to write a letter like Jefferson’s, which left open the question of whether the congressman would comply with the subpoena.

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Also, as NRO’s Kate O’Beirne first reported, the House Counsel’s office has copies of the subpoenaed documents, which it is keeping in the Counsel’s offices. Given that Jefferson’s staff consulted with the Counsel, and that the Counsel represents staff in such disputes, it is likely that the copies were made as part of the process of that legal representation. And it also suggests that this affair has been a standoff involving the House versus the Justice Department, as opposed to Rep. Jefferson versus the Justice Department, from the beginning.

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While this may explain their upset, it still does not explain how out of touch with reality and the Constitution the House members are.