Per an article in the Tennessean:
The head of an electric cooperative trade group said Thursday that Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, was being investigated by the FBI for entering the group's private Web site.
Glenn English, chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, made the revelation at the end of a contentious House investigative hearing that Cooper instigated to look at the practices of cooperatives.
Cooper acknowledged that someone had given him the password to the internal site but denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation centered on a Texas electric co-op and some questionable salaries and spending practices. Cooper used the investigation to begin probing into electrical co-ops nationwide.
It doesn't sound like it's too big a deal, but any hot water Jim "FISA-Caver" Cooper finds himself in is fine by me. I also find it more than a little ironic that a congressman in favor of immunity for the telco's for their wiretapping activity may be guilty of gaining surreptitious access to a private website, sort of the Internet equivalent. Granted, someone on the inside probably leaked him the password. But if he used that knowledge to go snooping around it smells awfully fishy.
The initial response from Cooper's office is a real winner, too.
"The idea that a congressman is under investigation for conducting an investigation is laughable," Cooper's spokesman John Spragens said.
See, here's the thing, Mr. Blue Dog Cooper. Up until the Bush administration we in America enjoyed a little thing known as:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
That would be the 4th Ammendment to the Constitution of the United States which you have sworn to protect and defend. So, go ahead and have your investigation into the doings of electrical co-ops, but obtain the proper warrants before you go snooping around their private websites.
Oh, one more thing ...
GET YOUR DAMN EARS OUT OF MY PHONE CALLS, AND YOUR BEADY LITTLE EYES OFF MY EMAILS AND WEB BROWSING!!!!
Hear's to seeing Cooper on the 2010 primary list!