The list of White House officials that Congress wants to hear from continues to lengthen.
Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Karl Rove’s deputy Scott Jennings, the Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs, asking him to appear before the committee “for interviews, depositions, or hearing testimony.” The emails show Jennings right in the thick of the efforts to get Rove’s former aide Scott Jennings installed as the U.S. attorney — and to avoid the unnecessary hurdle of senate confirmation. The committee’s already asked to hear from Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers and deputy White House counsel William Kelley.
The committee also sent a letter asking to hear from Justice Department official William Moschella. Moschella, McClatchy reported earlier this week, claims responsibility for having pushed a measure slipped into the Patriot Act Reauthorization in late 2005 that made it possible for the attorney general to appoint interim U.S. attorneys for indefinite terms without Senate confirmation. Moschella claims that he advocated the change “without the knowledge or coordination of his
superiors at the Justice Department or anyone at the White House.”
Yesterday, the Senate committee authorized issuing subpoenas for Kyle Sampson, Gonzales’ chief of staff who quit this week, Michael Elston, top aide to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, Associate Attorney General Bill Mercer, Monica Goodling, Gonzales’ senior counsel and White House liaison, and Mike Battle, the departing director of the office that oversees all 93 U.S. attorneys.