crash course

Cold, hard cash &8212; kept in a home freezer &8212; may be just the trick to give us all a lesson in constitutional powers.

In a case reaching the highest levels of American government cold cash and political power has clouded constitutional clarity.

Federal agents investigating U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., say they found $90,000 in cash cooling off in Jefferson&8217;s home freezer. That&8217;s one of several items of apparent evidence that have surfaced making the New Orleans lawmaker garner the suspicious looks of his colleagues and criminal investigators.

Agents raided Jefferson&8217;s congressional office in May, seizing documents, computer hard drives and other evidence in an investigation of bribery accusations against Jefferson.

The unprecedented raid lit the moat that separates the three branches of government. Congressional leaders cried foul over the raid saying the court order allowing the search violated the intent of the U.S. Constitution&8217;s separation of powers doctrine.

On Monday a judge &8212; conspicuously the same one who signed the original search warrant &8212; ruled that the search was valid.

Members of Congress are seething with anger and fear because many believe the search was instigated by partisan politics.

If the executive branch of government can go on a witch hunt and convince the judicial branch to go along with it that&8217;s how the separation of powers is supposed to work. No one hand of government is stronger than the other, despite congressional cries that they&8217;ve been wronged.

In this case, the chilled bills may wind up being the smoking gun that proves the government&8217;s case &8212; and the separation of powers &8212; is right on the money.