Federal Government

Schumer Says Senators ‘Duped’ By Justices

A powerful Democratic senator from New York told the American Constitution Society on Friday that the Senate should avoid confirming another one of President Bush’s Supreme Court nominees. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said a confirmation to the high court should only come in “extraordinary circumstances,” reports The Politico. He…

Jul 28, 2007 2:01 AM CDT

4 Dems Seek Alleged AG Perjury Probe

Updated: Upping the ante in continuing Congressional hearings on issues ranging from the firings of nine U.S. attorneys to American policy on terrorism, four Senate Democrats have formally asked the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate possible perjury by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “It has become…

Jul 27, 2007 1:53 AM CDT

House Committee OKs Contempt Citations

Updated: The House Judiciary Committee has voted to forward to the full House a recommendation to issue contempt citations against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten. The vote was 22 in favor and 17 against. House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers Jr.,…

Jul 25, 2007 8:15 PM CDT

U.S. Atty. Report Cites Wrongdoing

A new report says a probe into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys has uncovered serious evidence of wrongdoing by staff in the Justice Department and White House. The report was issued by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich. It concludes that administration officials may have obstructed justice…

Jul 25, 2007 4:01 PM CDT

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…

Jul 24, 2007 7:30 PM CDT

Congress Tests US Atty Taylor’s Mettle

For months, controversy has been swirling over the alleged politicization by the administration of President George W. Bush of the nation’s federal prosecutors. Now a high-profile case has arisen that may provide a litmus test of the extent to which that has occurred. Congress is calling for current and former…

Jul 23, 2007 8:01 PM CDT

House Schedules Contempt Vote

The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Wednesday vote on whether to hold the president’s chief of staff and his former White House counsel in contempt of Congress. The vote could set up a constitutional conflict with the administration, which maintains the Justice Department does not have the power to…

Jul 23, 2007 7:41 PM CDT

Bush Sets New Prisoner Standards

Updated: President George W. Bush signed an executive order today that sets new standards for the CIA’s treatment of prisoners–standards conflictingly reported by the media as either barring harsh interrogation, permitting it, or taking a middle course. Meanwhile, the order restates his previous position that certain prisoners are “unlawful enemy…

Jul 20, 2007 11:59 PM CDT

Valerie Plame Suit Dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed on jurisdictional grounds the privacy and constitutional claims for damages brought by former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband against senior Bush administration officials. Because they have not exhausted their administrative remedies under the Federal Tort Claims Act, there is no subject-matter jurisdiction…

Jul 19, 2007 10:39 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Nominee a Surprise

One of President Bush’s four recent nominees to federal appeals courts faces an uphill battle because of concerns expressed by two Democratic home-state senators. Bush nominated Shalom Stone to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals without input from New Jersey’s senators, Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, the New Jersey…

Jul 19, 2007 1:31 PM CDT

President: Morford is New Deputy AG

A career federal prosecutor will serve at least temporarily as the new deputy attorney general in the troubled Justice Department, replacing one of a half-dozen senior officials who have announced their departures in the midst of ongoing controversy over alleged politicization of the prosecutorial process. The White House announced today…

Jul 18, 2007 10:49 PM CDT

Fielding Unyielding

Fred Fielding is surprising those who know him as a pragmatist. Observers thought that Fielding would nudge the administration into compromise after he took over as White House counsel in January. Instead he is leading White House battles with Congress over executive privilege and presidential power, the Washington Post reports.…

Jul 18, 2007 6:22 PM CDT

Miers Continues to Resist Subpoena

A lawyer for former White House counsel Harriet Miers sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday confirming she will not testify or provide documents. The committee had subpoenaed Miers for information relating to the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys. When she refused, the committee gave Miers…

Jul 18, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

WH Gets Extension on Wiretap Response

The Senate Judiciary Committee has given the Bush Administration more time to respond to subpoenas seeking information about a program that permitted terrorism wiretaps without warrants. Today was the original deadline to respond to the subpoenas, the New York Times reports. The committee seeks documents to learn more about the…

Jul 18, 2007 2:55 PM CDT

Executive Privilege Showdown Looms

Congress is clearing the way for an unprecedented court battle with the White House over executive privilege. Following former White House counsel Harriet Miers’ refusal today to obey a subpoena and appear at a House subcommittee hearing on the alleged dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys as part of a political…

Jul 12, 2007 6:50 PM CDT