United States v. Helstoski
United States Supreme Court
442 U.S. 477 (1979)
Helstoski (defendant), a former U.S. Representative, was indicted for accepting bribes to introduce private immigration bills. Before a grand jury, he testified about and produced files on numerous private bills across eight appearances, but on his ninth appearance invoked the Speech or Debate Clause and refused to testify further. The lower courts ruled the government could not introduce evidence of Helstoski's actual performance of legislative acts, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review that ruling.
Whether the Speech or Debate Clause bars the government from introducing evidence of a member of Congress's legislative acts, such as introducing a bill, to prove a bribery prosecution.