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Rove a No Show on the Hill, Bush's Call
By Liza Porteus VianaJul 10th 2008 12:20PM
Filed Under:eBush Administration, House, Democrats, Republicans, Breaking News
It turns out, President Bush himself directed Rove to snub the subpoena.
Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers yesterday, saying Rove would not be at today's hearing since he is "immune from compelled Congressional testimony" because of his position as a former immediate adviser to the president and because the subject matter has to do with issues that went on during his tenure in the White House.
"Although I know you would prefer otherwise, Mr. Rove is simply not free to take a position inconsistent with that asserted by the president," Luskin wrote. "The White House has reaffirmed the Executive Branch position that immediate Presidential advisers have immunity in this situation and has directed Mr. Rove not to appear."
The July 9 letter from the White House to Luskin, telling Rove not to appear, was written by Bush counsel Fred Fielding and can also be found here. It says:
"Mr. Rove is not required to appear in response to the Committee's subpoena. Accordingly, the President has directed him not to do so."
AP says Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law that called Rove, ruled with backing from fellow panel Democrats that Rove's claim of immunity was invalid - perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt for refusing to cooperate.
Rove was the only witness scheduled to appear. But his chair at the table remained empty, and AP reports a handful of protesters sitting behind it called for the political strategist to be arrested. The House has voted to hold two of President Bush's confidants - Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten - in contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry into the U.S. attorneys firings.
Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May to force him to talk about whether he was involved in prosecutors' decisions to pursue cases against Democratic politicians or in the attorneys scandal.
On July 3, Sanchez, D-Calif., and Conyers, D-Mich., responded to a July 1 letter from Luskin, which said Rove wouldn't appear. Luskin again offered to make Rove available for an off-the-record interview, without an oath, but only about the matter involving former Alabama Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman.
"We want to make clear that the subcommittee will convene as scheduled and expects Mr. Rove to appear, and that a refusal to appear in violation of the subpoena could subject Mr. Rove to contempt proceedings, including statutory contempt under federal law and proceedings under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives," Conyers and Sánchez said in their letter.
Siegelman, who is out on bail, was convicted on corruption charges in 2006, and claims Rove encouraged the DOJ to pursue the case against him. He is appealing his conviction and seven-year prison sentence for accepting a bribe from HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy.
The Birmingham News reports that the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility confirmed in a July 3 letter to Siegelman lawyer Vince Kilborn that the office was reviewing allegations that the case against Siegelman was politically motivated. The letter asked Kilborn and Siegelman to provide any information that might be useful. Kilborn wants the DOJ to search for e-mails, phone records and other documents to determine whether there was communication between Rove and decision makers in the department about the case.
"I would trust documents much more than I would Karl Rove's denials," Kilborn told the newspaper.
Kilborn said the office also should seek documents regarding U.S. Attorney Leura Canary's decision to step aside from the Siegelman investigation. She is married to Bill Canary, a former Republican political consultant and ally of Republican Gov. Bob Riley. Kilborn says the DOJ has refused to release documents concerning Canary's recusal.
"There's an awful lot of black smoke concerning the case against Governor Siegelman," Kilborn said. "We know the camel's nose got under the tent ... We know politics got into the Justice Department."
Recent Comments
(Page 1 of 2)Chuck Williams1:41PMJul 10th 2008
Well, there you are. Pigs like Rove and the whole of the cast of characters from this nightmare administration can flout whatever law they want, and we can't do a damn thing about it.
We can impeach Clinton for lying about a blow job, but we can't impeach Bush/Cheney for the catastrophic damage this administartion has done to our great country. How pathetic.
Ponyboy35431:47PMJul 10th 2008
Rove is another LIAR as is his X boss, the big bush man. The white house has repeatedly lied to us about anything of any importance to the united states. We will find out later about the LIAR Macain.
Bill Klinten2:29PMJul 10th 2008
I cant wait for this rancid and corrupt people leave our White House. What a waist of 8 years....
! Bush - The worst president in our country's history !
Vera2:31PMJul 10th 2008
I have a challenge for all the Clinton supporters.
Please send Hillary $1 this month.
If you really loved her please send $5.
If you really – really – really loved her send her $10.
And all of you McCain supporters that are thankful to the bitter Clinton supporters please send her $100 you could afford it mote then the poor uneducated, bitter Clinton followers.
By next month all eighteen plus million of you will pay off her debt and we will not have to listen to her begging anymore.
Four More Months2:31PMJul 10th 2008
The dominos have started to fall.
At the rate they are going the republicans will loose many seats in the next election.
When the American people realize that their choice is four more years of fighting the wrong war in the wrong country against the wrong enemy. An economy down the gutter. Gas and food prices climbing every day. Our nation's debt being owned by China and Saudi Arabia do you really think the intelligent American citizen will vote for four more years of the same?
Kwaayesnama2:32PMJul 10th 2008
Lying is something new to the GOP?
There were weapons of mass destruction - weren't there?
Sedam Hussein was responsible for 9-11?
Oil was going to pay for the Iraqi war?
Mission accomplished!
CHUCK2:32PMJul 10th 2008
Not only should they throw Carl Rove into jail.
They should impeach Bush, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice. I belive that congress and the senate are cowards not to impeach the people that sent over 4,000 precious Americans to their deaths fighting the wrong war, in the wrong nation, fighting the wrong enemy, looking for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.
Bas3:04PMJul 10th 2008
To Four More Months -
Yes, I do think the American Citizens could vote for more of the same - they've already re-elected Bush once. It's amazing how people will act against their own self-interests.
kunzsp4:43PMJul 10th 2008
The Congress now
has an unbelievably
low rating of
nine percent.
President Bush
called it right.
kunzsp4:49PMJul 10th 2008
Yes, Virginia, there were weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq at the end
of Clinton's term. Albright went
to talk to UN Annan about the seriousness
of WMD in Iraq at that time which is
a fact. Bill Clinton lied, not Pres.Bush
Phyllis Kunz
bluesky7:25PMJul 10th 2008
Rove is too smart for that dumb House Judiciary Committee to get jailed!! Peloci and Reid will not
do anyhting either, they're to scared to impeach
much less arrest Karl Rove. "NOTHING'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO KARL ROVE"!! There are too many yellow spineless lawmakers to take action against Karl Rove!! "That is a "DO-NOTHING" Congress with an
approval rate of 9%."
Pete10:00PMJul 10th 2008
Democrats would like nothing more than to get Karl Rove "under oath" and give him the Scooter Libby treatment. The White House would be under siege from the liberal media for another manufactured scandal during an election year, what a coup!
Lets face it Karl Rove may as well make reservations at the nearest prison once he raises his hand and says I do because liberals would stop at nothing to railroad him as they did Scooter Libby.
Pete10:35PMJul 10th 2008
Chuck
Back in Nov 2007 Dennis Kucinich, in his bid for the presidential nomination, threw some red meat out to the rabid anti-war far left and introduced Articles of impeachment on the House floor.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer moved to table the resolution since Speaker Nancy Pelosi said any effort to impeach the president were "off the table".
Republicans originally decided to go along with Hoyer and kill the resolution but halfway through the GOP changed their votes FOR Kucinich's Articles of impeachment. This forced Democrats to "put up or shut up" and "on the record" with their votes for impeachemnt. The final vote of 162-251 to allow the resolution to be debated was quickly shelved by Hoyer back to the Judiciary Committee.
Democrats have made a political living misleading people with "Bush lied", Bush has trampled our Constitution yada yada yada.
Republicans were more than happy to let the Democrats finally back up their accusations, they ran and hid.
The facts are Nancy "off the table" Pelosi and Hillary Clinton are two of the many people with security clearences who would know if President Bush lied or trampled the Constitution. Both Pelosi and Hillary have refused, indeed gone out of their way to avoid letting the cat out of the bag by impeaching the president.
Democrats can repeat "Bush lied" or trampled the Constitution over and over knowing they can not be exposed for BS'ing the public because the proof to vindicate the President is classified.
Impeaching the President will simply force many democrats to vindicate him, leaving BDS suffering liberals, after 40 failed attempts to run from Iraq, with nothing, make that one less thing, to whine about.
I could be wrong but after seven plus years of failing to impeach the president, today is yet another day of circumstantial evidence I am right.
Splash10:41PMJul 10th 2008
This congress doesn't deserve the respect of Benedict Arnold. They are on a political witch hunt and have been since they won back congress in 2006, wasting their time and our money accomplishing nothing.
There has been one unintended but beneficial consequence in their foolish endeavors. They have allowed George Bush to be the strongest lame duck president in recent history. He seems to get almost everything he wants.
W has got to be just beside himself at what he is accomplishing while having to deal with the most aggressively partisan and spiteful congress I have witnessed in my lifetime. Republicans weren't this bad. Of course, they were smart enough not to waste their time dragging everybody and their grandmother into a hearing.
What a bunch of limelight grabbing grand standers.
OhReally10:56PMJul 10th 2008
Way to go Nancy Pelosi..show em how tough you are ROFL
Splash11:07PMJul 10th 2008
Nancy Pelosi is an embarrassing waste of history as the first woman speaker.
But soon she will have good company with an embarrassing waste of history on the first black president or the oldest elected to a first term.
Too bad the nominee wasn't Hillary so that women could take a twofer on the chin.
Have I left anyone out? At least I don't play favorites like O-bots & H-bots.
Don't care who wins. Just trying to help out.
Lea12:03AMJul 11th 2008
RIGHT ON KARL ROVE
C. Jenkins12:13AMJul 11th 2008
Vera2:31PMJul 10th 2008
I have a challenge for all the Clinton supporters.
Please send Hillary $1 this month.
If you really loved her please send $5.
If you really – really – really loved her send her $10.
And all of you McCain supporters that are thankful to the bitter Clinton supporters please send her $100 you could afford it mote then the poor uneducated, bitter Clinton followers.
By next month all eighteen plus million of you will pay off her debt and we will not have to listen to her begging anymore
_________________________________________________
These commenters are not Hillary supporters, they are paid Republican "hacks." As you have deduced, if they were Hillary supporters, they would have paid down her debt.
Again,"PAID REPUBLICAN HACKS."
Bob Wilkinson3:47AMJul 11th 2008
Rove,Bush,Cheney and Rumsfeld very definetly broke our constitutional laws and involved others including OUR not their DOJ. If any citizen not apart of the Presidental Cabinet committed these same crimes we would stand acused of, at the very least, negligent homoside, fraud, and coruption. Isn't a shame our representives [OUR Senate-OUR congress ]doesn't seem to have the power to Inforce Our laws. they therefore aren't doing the job we [hired] elected them to preform. What would happen to any one of us if we did our job as poorly as they do, do you think we would sill have our jobs. We need to take our country back.Stop this partisan voting and OJECTIVELY lood at each candidates.
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John Woods1:24PMJul 10th 2008
Karl Rove is a brilliant man, He may also be a criminal. No man is above the law but it is the nature of our system to see how far you can push. I think Rowe has pushed it far enough to have to spend some time in custody while this makes it to the supreme court just a month here and a month there. While it goes through the system like us little guys.