RenziGate Roundup 3/29

CBS News airs a decent overview of the RenziGate crimes:

Meanwhile, you might recall that Renzi’s mouthpeice Mr. Weingarten, said on the 5th, when Renzi was arraigned in federal court, that the defense was "not going to drag our feet." Well, not so much…

Roll Call and CQ are reporting that Dick and his gang of high-priced lawyers want more time to figure out a way that they can possibly convince a jury that Dick’s not dirty as hell.

"[Dick] has asked a federal judge in Arizona to delay his scheduled
April 29 trial on conspiracy, fraud, extortion and money laundering
charges stemming from a land-swap deal.
      

Prosecutors will
not oppose the Arizona lawmaker’s bid to have his trial deemed a
“complex case,” which would allow more time to sort out motions,
discovery and other pre-trial issues.

Renzi’s lawyers
also said that because he is a sitting congressman who faces
allegations related to his legislative activities, they would raise the
issue of legislative privilege afforded by the Constitution’s Speech or
Debate clause."

What I find fascinating about this news is the lawyers’ final float of the idea that the Constitution grants lawmakers a defense to lying, embezzling, and defrauding the public. It is certainly true that lawmakers are granted certain immunities from common law actions that might otherwise arise from their speech in the course of their legislative duties, but this might be stretching the law to the breaking point.

For instance, if a Congressman called you a "lying, embezzling, public defrauding son-of-a-bitch named Dick," during a speech in Congress, he would be protected from a suit for liable, defamation, and such like reputational damages by the Constitution’s Speech and Debate clause privilege. But this is the first time I’ve heard of the privilege considered a possible defense to statutory crimes. Hey, Dick’s put together a high-powered, and no doubt high-priced, legal team—I’m sure they’ll try all sorts of creative things to pull Dick’s head out of the noose he’s tied for himself.

In other (anti?)news, Arizona Senator John McCain is continuing to do nothing much to distance himself from Renzi, or to urge him to end this non-sense before it hurts his Presidential campaign. Mention of which gives me an excuse to post this again: