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Today's Must Read
So what's next? Culled from the papers this morning, here's a roundup of where the attorney purge scandal is headed these next couple of days.
Alberto Gonzales, in an increasingly desperate attempt to keep his job, has said that he'll meet with members of Congress sometime this week to explain himself. It's unclear when or where that will be.
Meanwhile, both the House and Senate judiciary committees are pressing forward with their investigations.
A small group of lawmakers from both the House and Senate met with White House counsel Fred Fielding yesterday concerning their request for documents and to interview White House officials, including Karl Rove. Fielding, apparently, told them he'll get back to them Friday after speaking with the president. At issue, of course, is whether the White House will assert executive privilege. That would mean war.
According to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was at the meeting, Fielding "said that he wanted to make this work because he had a reputation, his own reputation, to uphold.”
But though the committees have gone out of their way to be amicable, that doesn't mean they'll be sitting on their hands waiting for an answer from the White House.
As Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) put it: “Frankly, I don’t care whether Fielding says he’s going to allow people or not. We’ll subpoena the people we want.... If they want to defy the subpoena, then you get into a stonewall situation I suspect they don’t want to have.”
And so this morning, the Senate committee will vote on whether to issue subpoenas to Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, and William Kelley, a former top aide to Miers.
We'll know tomorrow, it seems, whether they'll have to use them.
Comments (42)
dono wrote on March 15, 2007 9:06 AM:I thought AG was 'too busy' to answer subpoenas and that if he wastes his time on this 'the American People lose.' Did someone tell him Congress IS the American People?
Wretched Refuse wrote on March 15, 2007 9:07 AM:There is some rightwing meme going around about how Shumer has a problem with his investigation because he is the fund raiser for the Dem senate caucus or some such idiocy. This should be contrasted with Fred FIeldings ridiculously possible "conflict of interest" in that he may subvert Gonzon because as history prevails, Bush promotes from within, so he might be the next Atty General is Gonzo was to be fired or resigned.
Both are equally as stupid.
Jay wrote on March 15, 2007 9:28 AM:Most of the emails in the document dump were from one person--Gonzilla's chief-of-staff, Sampson, but as I understand it, the request for emails by congress on this subject was pretty broad. Why no emails from the AG? Harriet Miers? Karl Rove? We know Bush doesn't use email--probably on advice of counsel. And why would it take a couple of days for Bush to decide whether to assert executive privelege? Are they getting their stories straight? What's happening to the emails in the meantime?
Halimah Felt wrote on March 15, 2007 9:28 AM:AG mustn't mean Atrocities Galore any more ...
nlacey wrote on March 15, 2007 9:34 AM:Read Sid Blumenthal's piece in Salon today!
Agathena wrote on March 15, 2007 9:58 AM:YES, read Sid Blumenthal's piece connecting all the dots that lead to Rove. He reports the Rove pattern is all over this scandal.
roooth wrote on March 15, 2007 10:02 AM:We all feel the wrongness of this group, even when we can't verbalize exactly what it is that is so wrong with them.
If you haven't ever read it, I suggest reading "People of the Lie" by M. Scott Peck.
"People of the Lie" is about the psychology of evil.
Bush and the people around him are not just liars, they are evil. There is nothing they will not do and no one they will not happily destroy, even murder, to keep getting their way. Because nothing matters to them but the exertion of their will over everyone, at any cost.
Call them narcissistic sociopathsm just labels them. Bottom line, they are evil, lies are are just a tool for them.
We have to face up to this as a nation. Every day that we allow them to stay in power because we are unwilling to face the extent of their evil is another day of lives destroyed and people dying unnecessarily.
Every generation seems to be called to some task. This is ours. Bush and those around him have taken unprecedented power and used it for evil and they will not stop by themselves. They will have to be stopped and we have to do it. There is no one else but us who can stop them.
And make no mistake, the real horror of this latest scandal was it's intended reach into the future. Losing '06 has not stopped these people from attempting to permanently subvert our Constitution, it just made them shift their plans a little.
Nothing will stop them except their complete removal and prosecution. If we had done that after Watergate or Iran-Contra, we wouldn't be here now. But we are.
These people must be stopped.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 15, 2007 10:10 AM:And when the Allied Forces arrived at the bumper they found the Attorney's General dead from apparent suicide . . . A single shot from a luger automatic . . . Eva Braun was no where to be found.
Sorry . . . I thought that Haman during Purim reference woulda seemed stale . . .
john o. wrote on March 15, 2007 10:17 AM:Any other repub senators besides Sununu calling for resignation? You guys have any updates on this?
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 15, 2007 10:21 AM:bumper = bunker
bob wrote on March 15, 2007 10:28 AM:"The Supreme Court however DID reject the notion that the President has an "absolute privilege." The Supreme Court stated: "To read the Art.II powers of the President as providing an absolute privilege as against a subpoena essential to enforcement of criminal statutes on no more than a genaralized claim of the public interest in confidentiality of nonmilitary and nondiplomatic discussions would upset the constitutional balance of 'a workable government' and graveley impair the role of the courts under Art. III" 418 U.S. 683, 707. Because Nixon had asserted only a generalized need for confidentiality, the Court held that the larger public interest in obtaining the truth in the context of a criminal prosecution took precedence."
elrapierwit wrote on March 15, 2007 10:47 AM:I just dont see how executive privilege can be used to protect a president from the congress when it does not involve diplomacy or military matters. Would a lawyer enlighten me?
Bob,
Was that US Supreme Court ruling prior to or post the appointment of Roberts and Alito to the bench?
KCinDC wrote on March 15, 2007 10:47 AM:Why is Schumer taking the lead on this stuff? Isn't Leahy the judiciary chair?
elrpaierwit wrote on March 15, 2007 10:49 AM:KCinDC
Schumer chairs the subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary that covers the court system
vox clamantis in red state wrote on March 15, 2007 10:52 AM:We need a military coup.
kentuck wrote on March 15, 2007 10:54 AM:Demanding these people resign is not going to work. The military command must understand the folly of the mideast policy and the toll it is having on more than just enlisted (bad apples in Abu Garib, raping and killing teenage girls everywhere) with generals since the start of Iraq up to now (more troops please, you're fired
we need a surge, which is more troops please, and these generals ignored conditions at Walter Reed..I mean, Jesus Christ, men, the state of utter confusion is affecting the whole damn armed forces, the stock market..put some leadership with guts in charge. Congress just holds more hearings and keeps getting the finger. Enough is enough.
It's about time someone challenged this "Clanton Gang" in the White House and Justice Dept. When and if the truth becomes known, we will find that they were "warned" of the illegalities and the uproar that would follow. Predictably, they ignored the warnings. They would have their way, the law be damned.
When and if we find the truth, we will find that Ms Miers did indeed suggest they "fire" all 93 US Attys. However, we will find that her suggestion was in the context of the "brainstorm" of what to do about the "loose cannon" out in San Diego, Ms Lam. I do not doubt that Ms Miers would have reminded them that other Presidents had fired all the US Attys when they came into office and that would be one way to get rid of Ms Lam?
But, no doubt, some corrected her misdirected strategy. There was no need for a meat cleaver when all they needed was a scalpel and a small bit of surgery. It is not unthinkable that the White House asked a few Senators for names to be cut - in order not to have Ms Lam standing all alone on the chopping block. And to give the White House a little clearance from the hatchet job. Welcome, Pete Domenici.
It is no surprise that Alberto lied to the Congress - under oath. That's what they do. They are the Clanton Gang. They will do whatever it takes.
The only thing that will keep them in power is for the Sheriff and his deputies (the Congress)to ignore the lawlessness and the lies. It's time to let this White House know that no one is above the law. Not Mr Bush and not Mr Gonzales. No one.
Hector wrote on March 15, 2007 10:57 AM:418 U.S. 683 is United States v. Nixon (1974). So pre-Roberts, pre-Alito.
Aaron G. Stock wrote on March 15, 2007 11:15 AM:A military coup? No thank youp.
bob wrote on March 15, 2007 11:46 AM:I grew up in the Air Force. My father served 22 years. My brother was a Marine. my cousins are in the navy. My grandfathers were in the army. Our family served on both sides of the civil war AND revolutionary war. We were her throughout the colonial period. ANd, NO I do not want a military COUP. No fucking way. If you think the bureaucracy has trouble getting things right you've not seen the way a soldier can fuck things up. Allow them their job as killers for Democracy and as out protectors, never invite them to the political table in uniform. Thank you, no.
my word is 'snake'
tekel wrote on March 15, 2007 11:55 AM:And remember, Alito is also a scuzzbag who can't be trusted to do the right thing. But US v. Nixon was an 8-0 decision... none of this 5-4 wishy-washy swing vote bullshit we saw from the Rehnquist court for all those years. Even Thomas should recognize that it's still good law and that stare decisis requires the proper result.
The question is- if Bush asserts executive privilege over Harriet's email, and Congress sues to enforce the subpoena, and it ever comes before the Court, will they properly apply the law to these facts?
foggylady wrote on March 15, 2007 12:01 PM:Anyone else notice that Kyle Sampson, in the pic by byu, looks like Rove's "minie me"?
kentuck wrote on March 15, 2007 12:11 PM:Scary.
( I Googled images to find this)
We have had something similar to a "military coup" already. The military is "hiding" secrets of this Administration - just as are most of the US Attorneys and sycophants working in the White House. If you are not willing to hide and protect those in power, then you are not "competent".
What is so unbelievable to me is how many people are willing to sell their souls to protect this criminal enterprise? It's mostly done under the charade of "political" Party loyalty. It is scary to the extreme how these people, these sycophants, can rationalize their support for these acts, without a hint of right or wrong, a total lack of consciousness that is dangerous to our very survival. Their "partisanship" does not excuse their criminality. They must understand that their loyalty cannot stand with any person over the laws of our country. It is absolutely amazing how these folks have fallen in line, willing to sacrifice everything for their Leader and their Party. It is frightening.
My code word is "free".
malcontent wrote on March 15, 2007 12:23 PM:I think it's time we declare war on the GOP, and you're either with us or against us.
These people are clearly dangerous.
Everything Bush has done since seizing power should be reversed...EVERYTHING.
That includes Alito and Roberts, especially. They should be impeached by default.
How about instead of organizing a peaceful march in Washington, we organize a mob to storm the White House?
Is that even legal? It would just be redressing our greivances, right?
clio wrote on March 15, 2007 12:33 PM:Indeed, kentuck.
I always think of Othello:
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls...
he that filches from me my good name...
makes me poor indeed
except in this case no one had to rob them.
Aaron G. Stock wrote on March 15, 2007 12:38 PM:They gave their honor away.
A mob? No thank yob.
(At worst, if it came to it, it would be wiser to use a form of eldering (Quaker term) which does involve nonviolent touch, but not fisticuffs.)
kentuck wrote on March 15, 2007 12:38 PM:Good quote, clio...
Minor Ripper wrote on March 15, 2007 12:48 PM:Why? How could they be so "partisan"? That they would put their "loyalty" to Party and Leader over what they must know are the laws of our land? Why would they risk everything without a thought of the consequences? Do they truly believe their leaders are as pure as the driven snow and incapable of ever doing anything wrong or illegal? Good soldiers all?
Quite frankly I've found this Dept. of Justice firings business very complicated, and a bit boring. Thankfully, Jon Stewart explains it to me in this video:
malcontent wrote on March 15, 2007 1:44 PM:http://minor-ripper.blogspot.com/2007/03/jon-stewart-explains-department-of.html
Well, at some point I think a violent revolt is in order, that's all...
K Ols wrote on March 15, 2007 2:07 PM:A revolt? That should have happened long ago with these insane criminals, but woe, the people of this country are entirely too passive.
Hope is not a plan people. We must do something, anything to get these crooks out of power.
If I were younger I'd be right there pushing loudly to get these criminals behind bars where they belong. I'd love them tried before the Hague and hung until dead. Life means nothing to these people, nor honesty nor anything else we hold dear.
Our country has been ruined and we sat by and watched as it happened.
StephenH wrote on March 15, 2007 2:36 PM:
Mark F. wrote on March 15, 2007 2:48 PM:It's apparent that this purge was in the planning for some months, and that they planned to do it after the elections, which they thought they would win. The fact that they would do something like this demonstrates how much contempt they have for the rule of law. The fact that they went ahead and did it even though Democrats took over the Congress shows how incompetent they can be in persuit of their corrupt ends.
Maybe they ought to issue a subpoena to Arlen Specter too. It's looking an awful lot like he knows WAY more than he's letting on.
Mark F. wrote on March 15, 2007 3:25 PM:Good point, StephenH. They never thought this would come up in the first place, and if it did, it would get the usual rubber stamp. A Democratic majority in Congress is probably a situation they never even considered.
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