Government
Mar. 8, 2023
Do not pass go
A member of Congress ought not to be able to wave the magic wand of “informal fact finding” or communications with private parties or members of the Executive Branch as “get out of jail cards” to thwart a criminal investigation.
John H. Minan
Emeritus Professor of Law
University of San Diego School of Law
Professor Minan is a former attorney with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and the former chairman of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Board.
The Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution is in the news again courtesy of Pennsylvania House of Representative Scott Perry. In pending litigation now on appeal in the D.C. Circuit, he claims that the contents of his private phone are protected from the government’s ongoing criminal investigation into January 6th.
The Constitution provides that “they (Senators and Representatives) shall not be questioned in any other Place” (Art. 1...
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