BY PAUL BARTON
Enquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington charged Monday that Rep. John Boehner's suit against him over an intercepted cellular phone call violates "bedrock First Amendment principles" and should be dismissed.
Mr. McDermott, a Democrat, filed his formal response to the lawsuit that Mr. Boehner, R-West Chester and the fourth-ranking GOP leader in the House, filed against him on March 9.
The suit is thought to be the first by one member of Congress against another over personal actions.
In arguing for dismissal, Mr. McDermott charged that the Boehner suit "represents an unprecedented attempt by one member of Congress to use the judicial process as a weapon in a political battle against another member."
He added, "The appropriate forum for such disputes is in the halls of Congress, not a courtroom."
Mr. Boehner's suit alleges that Mr. McDermott violated the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act in January 1997 by distributing the contents of an illegally taped cellular phone call to the New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Roll Call, a publication that covers Congress.
The phone call, which took place Dec. 21, 1996, involved Mr. Boehner and other House GOP leaders who were discussing how to respond to ethics findings against Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Boehner was speaking on a cellular phone in his car as traveled through Florida on a Christmas vacation.
The couple who intercepted the call on their police scanner -- Jim and Alice Martin of Columbia County, Florida -- pleaded guilty to illegally intercepting the call and also testified they handed the tape to Mr. McDermott, then ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee.
