House Judiciary Committee Holds Karl Rove in Contempt
July 30th, 2008The United States House Judiciary Committee voted 20-14 Wednesday morning to hold former Bush political adviser Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a subpoena to testify under oath before the committee.
In a memo on the full committee meeting, Chairman John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat, summarized the facts surrounding Rove’s refusal to appear before the committee and assert executive privilege, according to the TPMMuckraker.
Mr. Rove has refused even to appear before the Committee and assert whatever privileges that he believes may apply to his testimony, relying on excessively broad and legally insufficient claims of “absolute immunity” — never recognized by any court — in declining to appear.
According to the Associated Press, the voting was largely along party lines. The committee says Rove broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats.
The committee decision is only a recommendation, according to AP, and it was unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi would allow a final vote in the full House.
Rove has denied any involvement with Justice Department decisions, but not under oath, and the White House has said Congress has no authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers, although it is still unclear why Rove would claim executive privilege for discussing the case with the president — unless he discussed the case with the president, and Bush was fully in the loop.
So far activists and bloggers have focused their sites on getting Rove arrested, perhaps to weaken his influence in the upcoming election. But they have failed to realize that Bush was in the loop.
It will be interesting to see how the House tries to enforce its contempt charge, since it has no police powers, except perhaps for the Sargent at Arms, which has never been used to make an arrest of this kind.
Check back often to the LFJ for more details on how this case will proceed, including more details proving president Bush was in the loop in the Siegelman case.
Meanwhile, TPMM is also reporting that Bush Justice Department inspector general Glenn Fine, testifying this morning before the committee, said Rove aide Scott Jennings was the only White House official he sought to interview for his report released Monday.
“Why were no others at the White House questioned?” Sen. Arlen Spector, R-Penn., asked.
“From the evidence that we had, both emails and discussions, we did not see that others were involved in this process, and we questioned the person who was involved,” Fine said, referring to the partisan screening of prospective judges and career prosecutors.
Fine said he did not believe any of the misconduct described in his 140-page report, released Monday, called for criminal prosecution for false statements.
“We looked at that and clearly in our judgment and in the judgement of prosecutors who have been working on this case, we do not think there was a sufficient basis for a criminal prosecution for false statements,” he said.
BS.
