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House Judiciary Committee Gets Ready To Subpoena Mukasey
It looks like the House Judiciary Committee will finally play hardball with Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has been requesting a range of documents from DOJ for a long time. Some of the issues date back as far as Election Day 2002, when Republicans in New Hampshire jammed the phone lines for a Democratic get-out-the-vote call bank, an effort one GOP operative said was modeled on the U.S. Marines tactic of jamming the enemies communications.
Now Conyers has the authority to subpoena that stack of records after the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law took a vote today and gave him the formal go-ahead.
They're looking for records of interviews from the DOJ investigation into who leaked the identify of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, documents that may shed light on allegations of selective prosecution, and the details behind the replacement of Minnesota's U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose. The committee is also requesting Office of Legal Counsel memos and enforcement reports from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Speaking of the Civil Rights Division, Conyers and several other lawmakers today sent a letter to Mukasey urging stop stonewalling a GAO investigation of the Civil Rights Division. Amid allegations that political pressures were shifting the division's priorities, Congress in March 2007 requested the Government Accountability Office conduct an investigation. Lawmakers say DOJ has not provided the documents and data needed to fully analyze the division's enforcement work.
The lawmakers also said they had "received reports that DOJ officials have removed key documents from files, claiming that GAO does not have a right to access predecisional or deliberative information that sets forth the Division's rationale on whether or not to pursue a case."
"We are troubled by the lack of transparency and refusal of the Department to cooperate fully with GAO's investigation," the lawmakers wrote in today's letter.
Josh
Zachary
Maybe the judicial climate in DC Appeals is warming up -to the Congress.
Witness Judge Bate's questions during orals Monday to Irv Nathan,the House general counsel who is arguing the Meirs/Bolton case.
Formerly the GAO sued Cheney for the release of information and the same judge swatted it down on standing grounds; in effect that gave the Executive a free pass to play fast and loose with demands for documents coming from Congress. The CG didn't see fit to appeal it and that was probably because he can count like the rest of us and couldn't get past four. Maybe things are changing. Boumedienne was a clear signal there are five votes now for looking askance at Executive maximalism.
If this is the case, then the House Committees have quite a few requests they are going to make of the Executive in the coming months.
Any beltway guys out there who want to comment on this take?
June 26, 2008 5:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Mukasey refuses to comply with the summons slap him with contempt of Congress the same day -send the Sargent at Arms for him . After that we go get Meirs et al ..
Lets roll,,,
June 26, 2008 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I`ll serve it.I used to serve subpoenas for Hamilton County Juvenile Court in the 70S.I like working with juveniles.Not much difference here,only the players are not aware of just how juvenile they are.
June 26, 2008 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ahhhhh, another strongly worded missive. Mukasey is sure to be cowed by the adjectives.
June 26, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
When Mukasey was first nominated for his present position, he came well respected by both Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately, he has not seemed to live up to that respect.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
June 26, 2008 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey here's an idea maybe Kate can go interview Chuck Schumer regarding Mukasey's utter contempt of Congress.
C'mon on Chuck this Mukasey 's mess is your doing - you recommended him -come help hold your recommended candidate accountable for his lawlessness-
June 26, 2008 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
As I posted previously. Not another Congressional subpoena! Oh my what is a president, scratch that, AG to do. Oh I know. Tell them to f-off and grow some balls.
Have Schumer and Feinstein deliver it. They helped push the creep into Justice.
June 26, 2008 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, once again a hearty thanks to Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein for their hard work in securing Mukasey the position of Attorney General! It was a gift that just keeps on giving...
June 27, 2008 5:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
There such a grim satisfaction here, since I'm unable to forget that Diane Feinstein, my senator, voted for Mukasey.
Of course I'm sure she did this after some of her "serious consideration."
June 27, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Mukasey will turn into Gonzo II in front of the Judiciary Committee. Then, IMPEACH him.
Elliott Richardson understood the strategic role of this position.
Bring down the Attorney General,and you bring down the whole Administration. You don't let him walk away into the sunset, as happened with Gonzo I.
June 27, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Impeach Mukasey.
D/ITMFA.
June 27, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
As Attorney General, does he dare refuse a subpeopna...? As the "head" lawmaker (of the people) would he flaunt the law...could he not be removed from office..? Or would that take an "Executive Order" from Bush..?
June 27, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just wait and we'll see him ignore them. The real question will be what happens next...executive privledge...oh too many demands on me...in other words totally bullshit!
Thanks chuck and daine...your judgement..your votes brought us this clown and Bushie puppet!
June 27, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Farging finally, Mukasey NEEDs to show up on the Hill Monday through Friday ten hours a day and testify before every committee and every sub-committee. Every asshole in the Administration should be testifying 24-7 to keep them outta trouble and shed light on their prior unkind deeds.
June 27, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Arrest Mukasey! He seems the type that would totally spill his guts under pain .. er, I mean pressure.
June 27, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Drip drip drip
Conyers is not going to pack up and go home just because Mukasey says "no". This will have legs into next year and far beyond. The information will come to light in an environment where pardons can no longer aid the guilty.
June 27, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
To understand SChUMER...you got to know about "what dirt they got on his wife" as part of OLLIE NORTH'S OPERATION BROWNSTONE.
Google, "OPERATION BROWNSTONE".
BROWNSTONE got Schumer's wife hooked on cocaine.
Then...the House bank...kited some checks, loans, etc.
Schumer's wife was real dirty.
She walked.
Dirt on Schumer.
Schumer placed high up in the power structure...because...he is "controlled".
Schumer then...avoided holding FBI ACCOUNTABLE IN WACO SLAUGHTER OF THE CHILDREN....and the use of DELTA FORCE TO WHACK OUT THE SIX MK ULTRAS who got the wrong signal, and started building the bio weapon?
Delta Force was inside....doing their job...when...out of the blue, a ferret round (incindiary device used to light up the fog of explosive flammable nerve gas) goes through the wall to start an incindiary spontaneous explosion.
DELTA FORCE MADE IT OUT OF THE BUILDING, but did not like getting expended after doing their job.
They talked: gave info to GUNTHER ROSSBACHER...to RAYELIN ROSSBACHER...TO ATTY PAUL WILCHER...100 page memo to JANET RENO...Wilcher gets assaulted within minutes of walking out of Reno's office....21 DAYS LATER WILCHER FOUND DEAD, TORTURED, NAKED SITTING ON TOP OF HIS TOILET.
DR GHIGLIOTTI hired by Schumer to review FBI's FLIR videotape.
Ghigliotti finds proof that MACHINE GUN FIRE INTO BURNING BUILDING was used to "reduce the number of Waco survivors" to avoid exposure.
DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES.
Ghigliotti...ends up dead of heart attack (Tim Russert?) seven days after telling his friend over his wiretaped phone that "...I got the smoking gun, I can prove that 3 FBI agents perjured themselves in front of Congress....".
DO YOU SEE....A SPIDERS WEB...LINKING ALL THE DC BELTWAY INSIDERS....to each other, by SIXTH DEGREES OF SEPERATION?
June 27, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink