John Ensign

DOJ Access To Ensign Emails Could Determine His Legal Fate

Susan Crabtree | May 27, 2011, 4:40PM

Former Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) legal fate may hinge on a gray area of the law governing the separation-of-powers between the legislative and judicial branches of government.

The Senate Ethics Committee's decision to hand over all of its evidence in the case against Ensign to the Justice Department - which includes hundreds of e-mails as Reuters' Murray Waas reported Thursday -- has raised new questions about the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution and whether it can prevent DOJ prosecutors from using those e-mails and other documents obtained in the panel's investigation that ended the Nevada Republican's once promising political career.

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