Frist less concerned about FBI raid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An FBI raid on the Capitol Hill office of a congressman under investigation in a bribery scandal did not violate the constitutional separation of powers, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on Sunday.

Frist, whose comments follow an uproar over the search, said he reviewed the Constitution's requirement on separation of powers and called the FBI's execution of a search warrant on Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson's office "OK."

"I don't think it was a separation of powers question. I've looked at it very carefully," Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said on Fox News Sunday.

The Justice Department's bribery investigation of Jefferson has turned up $90,000 in his freezer and won guilty pleas from two associates.

Frist previously expressed concern about the search. Leaders in the House of Representatives have been outraged by the FBI's action, calling it a violation of the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government.

President George W. Bush last week ordered the records seized from Jefferson's office to be sealed for 45 days to allow time to work out the dispute between the Justice Department and the House.

Jefferson has maintained his innocence.