Federal Government

Politics Ensnares Ex-Political Aide

Former White House political director Sara Taylor has learned some lessons since she received a Senate subpoena on her return home from a European vacation. Even though she resigned, normalcy is still out of reach. E-mail is never really private. The professional liability insurance she purchased doesn’t cover her legal…

Jul 12, 2007 3:22 PM CDT

Ex-Counsel Miers Won’t Testify

Former White House counsel Harriet Miers will refuse to appear before the House Judiciary Committee today. A letter to the committee claims Miers has “absolute immunity” from being forced to testify because the president has asserted executive privilege, the Washington Post reports. The committee was seeking Miers’ testimony about the…

Jul 12, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

Lady Bird Johnson Dies at 94

Lady Bird Johnson, who graciously used her influence as first lady during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson to lobby for human rights and laws protecting the environment, died today at age 94. Her health had been fragile after she suffered a stroke in 2002 that made it difficult for…

Jul 12, 2007 12:03 AM CDT

Defendants: No Jail for Libby; Why Me?

Updated: A former top aide to the vice president of the United States didn’t have to serve time for lying to a federal grand jury. So why should I? That essentially is the argument being made by a Massachusetts woman, 41-year-old Joanne “Jody” Richardson. And she’s not the only one.…

Jul 11, 2007 9:13 PM CDT

Ex-Aide: Bush and I Didn’t Discuss Firings

Former White House political director Sara Taylor testified today that she did not discuss the upcoming firings of federal prosecutors with President Bush. “I did not speak to the president about removing U.S. attorneys,” Taylor said. “I did not attend any meetings with the president where that matter was discussed.”…

Jul 11, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Ex-Aide to Answer Few Questions

Updated: The former White House political director is putting restrictions on her testimony today before a Senate committee investigating the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys. Sara Taylor will not testify about matters shielded by executive privilege but will answer questions “that are appropriate for a private citizen to…

Jul 11, 2007 4:34 PM CDT

Libby Probation OK, Briefs Say

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby may be sentenced to two years of supervised release in spite of President Bush’s commutation of his prison sentence, prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed in court papers filed yesterday. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton of the District of Columbia had questioned whether Libby could receive probation…

Jul 10, 2007 2:41 PM CDT

Conservatives Fret Over 4th Circuit

The federal appeals court based in Richmond, Va., has long been viewed as a conservative bastion. But with four vacancies, that could change. President Bush has not nominated anyone to fill those spots after withdrawing two controversial nominees, and energized Democrats could drag their feet when he finally acts, Legal…

Jul 10, 2007 12:58 PM CDT

ACLU Wiretap Suit Dismissed

Updated: A federal appeals court has ruled in a 2-1 decision that the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs lack standing to challenge warrantless wiretaps in terrorism cases. Today’s opinion by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacates a lower court decision that had held the surveillance…

Jul 6, 2007 5:38 PM CDT

‘Libby Motions’ Likely

President Bush sounded a lot like a criminal defense lawyer when he gave his reasons for commuting the sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. They are typical complaints about the federal system, Adam Liptak writes for the New York Times: Sentences are too long. Judges are allowed to consider facts…

Jul 5, 2007 3:26 PM CDT

Libby Loses Bid to Stay Sentence

Updated: A federal appeals court has refused to delay the prison sentence for former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, increasing pressure for a pardon. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused Libby’s request for a stay in a two-sentence ruling, the Associated Press…

Jul 2, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Bush Asserts Executive Privilege

The White House has asserted executive privilege and refused to turn over documents regarding the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys. The administration will withhold documents from former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor, and the officials will not testify, the Associated Press reports.…

Jun 28, 2007 3:57 PM CDT

Cheney Argument Moot

Is Dick Cheney a member of the legislative branch, or isn’t he? The White House says the answer is moot, the New York Times reports. The vice president has refused to comply with a presidential order permitting the National Archives to oversee classified data, saying his legislative role as Senate…

Jun 28, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

White House Subpoenaed

The Senate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the White House, the vice president’s office and the Justice Department, setting up a potential constitutional conflict. The committee seeks documents to learn more about the legal justification for the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program as well as the telecommunications companies that aided…

Jun 28, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

Convicted Governor Blames Karl Rove for Recommended 30-Year Prison Term

The controversy over alleged White House politicization of the federal prosecution process has moved beyond concern about the perhaps politically motivated dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys to a new issue–the cases they did, or did not, pursue. Now Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, is contending that he…

Jun 27, 2007 1:46 AM CDT