Bush Aides Cited for Contempt in Prosecutor Probe
In the latest move toward a potential constitutional showdown between Congress and the White House, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to hold two aides to President George W. Bush in contempt for failing to cooperate with its probe of why nine U.S. attorneys were fired.
White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove are the subjects of the contempt citations, which the full Senate must approve before they are effective, reports Reuters. Such approval is far from certain, and a vote is not expected until January.
The panel subpoenaed the two over the summer, seeking testimony and information concerning claimed improper White House political influence in Department of Justice prosecutions and the alleged dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys for political reasons. “The probe ultimately resulted in former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s resignation and caused several top officials at the Department of Justice to step down,” recounts The Hill.
According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who chairs the judiciary committee, Bolten produced none of the subpoenaed White House documents, and Rove refused to appear before the committee to testify, claiming that executive privilege immunized him from being subpoenaed, the Hill reports.
The full House of Representatives is expected to consider similar contempt charges against Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in the near future.
A White House spokesman says that Congress has no power to enforce these contempt citations, even if they are approved, reports the Associated Press.
“They should be fully aware of the futility of pressing ahead on this,” says spokesman Tony Fratto. “It has long been understood that, in circumstances like these, that the constitutional prerogatives of the president would make it a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys.”
