One footnote to my story today about the fight between the House and the Justice Department over the William Jefferson corruption investigation. The fight could have been even broader, involving Jefferson’s car. Last August, when the Justice Department searched Jefferson’s homes in Louisiana and Washington and subpoenaed documents from his office, they also wanted to search his car, which was parked in the underground garage at the Rayburn House Office Building. There was the possibility of a standoff, as there was with the issue of Jefferson’s office, but Jefferson decided not to claim speech-and-debate privilege for the contents of the car, and it was searched. Constitutional crisis averted.