Sen. Suggests Special Prosecutor
Updated: The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is suggesting that it may be time for the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys.
Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that the administration’s claims of executive power could hamper congressional supervision, the Associated Press reports.
If the president overrides congressional oversight, “the president can run the government as he chooses, answer no questions,” Specter said. “The attorney general has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor.”
Specter also questioned Gonzales aggressively about his visit to the hospital bed of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004. Gonzales, then White House counsel, had gone to the hospital with chief of staff Andrew Card to seek permission for reauthorization a terrorism eavesdropping program.
Gonzales denied that he was trying to take advantage of Ashcroft’s condition, according to the AP account. “We went there because we thought it was important for him to know where the congressional leadership was on this,” he said.
He said congressional leaders from both parties had urged him to make sure the program survived. He cited a concern that “a very important intelligence activity” would end because of the program’s expiration, the Washington Post reports.
AP says Specter glared at Gonzales when discussing the possibility of a special prosecutor.
The administration has indicated it believes prosecutors have no authority to pursue contempt charges on behalf of Congress when the president asserts executive privilege. The president has claimed the privilege to withhold information in the investigation into the firings.
Originally posted on 07-24-2007 at 10:13 AM.
