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. ‘My opinion is they took the wrong path,’ Hastert said. ‘They need to back up, and we need to go from there.’ Republican objections are independent of any facts in the corruption probe against Jefferson. Their complaints pertain solely to constitutional questions about the raid itself. The issue is not clear-cut for both parties. Republicans have repeatedly cited the Jefferson probe as an example of Democratic malfeasance in […]