Barney Frank: “I have been persuaded that disciplinary action might well be appropriate. What I worry about is, given constitutional…”

“I have been persuaded that disciplinary action might well be appropriate. What I worry about is, given constitutional doctrines that apply, if we get too explicit in legislation directing the administration to take either law enforcement or administrative disciplinary action, the potential disciplinee could claim legislative interference. I think it is very clear many of us will urge that appropriate disciplinary action should be taken. But if we start mandating that in legislation, we start doing the potential victim a favor, because we will start seeing due process arguments about inappropriate intervention. So that is another reason I think for going at this in the way that would be suggested, I hope, by the chairman.”