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House and Senate Dems Claim Victory, Say Miers, Rove Should Testify
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) hailed today's court ruling and said he expects former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and political director Karl Rove to testify on Capitol Hill in September.
"Today's landmark ruling is a ringing reaffirmation of the fundamental principle of checks and balances and the basic American idea that no person is above the law.Judge Bates' decision makes clear that the Congress had the right to subpoena Harriet Miers to learn of her role in the US Attorney firings, that her claim to be immune from subpoena was invalid and that the Committee was entitled to challenge that claim in Court. The Judge also ruled that the White House may not claim Executive Privilege over documents without describing them in reasonable detail so that these claims of privilege can be evaluated by Congress.
We look forward to the White House complying with this ruling and to scheduling future hearings with Ms. Miers and other witnesses who have relied on such claims. We hope that the defendants will accept this decision and expect that we will receive relevant documents and call Ms. Miers, as well as ex-White House official Karl Rove, to testify in September"
Later, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) echoed Conyers' statements:
The claims are part of an arrogant White House cover up, designed to shield from public view the inappropriate and illegal actions of this administration. It is past time for senior administration officials to abide by the law and appear before Congress to offer testimony compelled by subpoena.
What really is disturbing is that this isn't rocket science. There was no legal basis for the bozos to refuse to testify. I guess that's what you get when you have lawyers from Regent University advising you. You get untenable positions such as gee the US can torture and the president is the king and you can use a political litmus test for hiring attorneys at justice. Pathetic. Now how about some criminal prosecutions of these bozos for contempt.
July 31, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Judge Bates is going to get a spanking from Dick Cheeny for not doing what he was put in office to do.
Gotta love those lifetime appointments where the judge has to answer to no one except the law.
Now we'll see if the supreme court will kiss the ring.
July 31, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I were Conyers, I wouldn't be doing a victory lap just yet. Even if he gets their butts in the chair it's going to be a chorus of them invoking executive privilege to every question. It will be as meaningless as all the other testimonies that have come from the Bushies.
And for their part, why should they testify? They've been able to give the finger -- actually not even the courtesy of showing up to give them the finger -- and there's been no real consequence for them. It's all part of the wonderful game that gets played where Bush tells congress to shove it sideways and Congress gets all indignant, but in the end, Bush gets away scot-free.
July 31, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Judge Bates' opinion can be found at this link. It's long, and interesting (if you like that sort of thing).
July 31, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
No
They won't testify.
They just won't.
They won't show up.
They won't swear an oath.
They won't.
They won't.
They won't.
And Congress can't seem to make them...
They just won't!
July 31, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jim, don't be so cynical.
of course they'll show up.
right after the monkeys dressed in tuxedos, singing "Puttin on the Ritz" in Yiddish come flying out of my butt Battlestar Galactica style.
July 31, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about 'No August recess until these jerks testify'. Is there some kind of procedural requirement that we wait until September? Put this on the fast track and make it hurt until it is done.. Or I guess the Democrats could cave again and just wait until it's convenient for the felons (and the Administration has had plenty of time to mull over an appeal). I say if possible call Harriet and tell her to show up tomorrow (and can we still stick them with contempt or does that go away if they are compelled to testify?)
July 31, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
They might show up....but be prepared for "I don't remember, I can't recall and I take the fifth....
July 31, 2008 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
C'mon. You really think what some two-bit federal judge says is going to make any difference to this crew? They are way above judges.
So if you're waiting for Harriet Miers to testify, you might want to pack a couple changes of clothes and order some take-out.
July 31, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mukasey and the Chimp-in-Charge will run this crap through the Federal Courts until they decamp to Dubai on January 19th, 2009.
July 31, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Michael A" made a good point...that "this is not rocket science" which suggests the obvious that "the facts and law was on the Dems side" and therefore, this was a SLAM DUNK....yet...these are very strange times and ANY RULING BY A JUDGE THAT SUPPORTS THE CONSTITUTION IS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE.
THE JUDGE REAFFIRMED OUR TENUOUS HOLD ON REALITY... a reality that has been jeopardized by sociopathic criminal scum like ADDINGTON, YOO, and bill "luffa boy" O'Reilly.
It felt good to win...something that we all knew since Nixon, was ours.
July 31, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now...onto the new and improved WATERGATE SCANDAL with MIERS AND BOLTEN acting as "go betweens" during the CONSPIRACY TO OBSTRUCT JUSTICE when...so many GOP stooges rolled over on my attempts to get justice.
We need to know from LEAHY AND CONYERS...just what questions were to be asked of MIERS and BOLTEN, and...uh...are there other witnesses that can shed light on parts of the scandal.
This is a VERY SLOW WATERGATE....THAT INVOLVES DASCHLE CAMPAIGN WIRETAPPING...SOUTH DAKOTA MURDERS...USING "TORTURE OF TERRORISTS" as a way of confusing the truth--CONSPIRACIES TO COMMIT FED CRIMES OF VIOLENCE and or PATRIOT ACT POLITICAL MURDERS IN SOUTH DAKOTA, and attempted murders including "ATTEMPTED MURDER OF MINNEAPOLIS FBI COOPERATING WITNESS DR MARK GORDON" ( a guy who America is gonna really like, especially after we find out about the murder of his brother, RICHARD GORDON, ex chief of staff for former US SEN TOM DASCHLE OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
The door is open wide....................it is all biscuits and gravy now.
CHENEY WILL HAVE A HEART ATTACK.
DUMSFIELD WILL snap into madness.
FATBOY ROVE, will...whine and cry, and eventually eat shit sandwiches.
It is.....the rule of law.
July 31, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink