So when exactly will Karl Rove have his big sit-down with the House Judiciary committee to reveal what he knows about the White House’s involvement in the US Attorney firings?
According to Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, not for “several weeks.” That’s how long it will likely take, Luskin told TPMmuckraker, for both Rove and the committee to review the relevant documents and schedule the testimony. Luskin declined to give a more specific time frame.
The agreement securing Rove’s testimony, announced Wednesday between Congress and the Bush administration, acknowledged this need for deliberation, declaring: “The interviews will be conducted as soon as possible consistent with needed preparation time and the availability of the witnesses and their counsel.”
But Luskin did defend Rove’s comments to FoxNews.com, published yesterday, in which he warned of a “show trial” and said that Democrats “would love to have me barbecued.”
Arguing that Rove had legitimate concerns about the fairness of the process, Luskin referred to a comment made about Rove by Judicary chair John Conyers — “someone’s got to kick his ass.” Luskin also said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi had told Rolling Stone that Rove might have to go to jail. (In fact, Pelosi said she foresaw Rove being prosecuted.)
“If you were the subject of that, you’d worry about the process too,” said Luskin.
Luskin also confirmed to TPMMuckraker that he had played no role in the agreement, and was not kept closely informed about the progress of negotiations.