Aug
27
New Justice Department Push To Keep Bush Aides From Testifying
Filed Under Bush Administration, Department of Justice, Karl Rove
The Huffington Post
Murray Waas
The Justice Department filed papers in court late Monday asking a federal judge to temporarily set aside his own order directing White House officials to testify before Congress about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
The filing was in response to a July 31 opinion by U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates that the Bush administration’s claims of executive privilege in refusing to allow White House officials to testify about the firings was “unprecedented” and “entirely unsupported by existing case law.”
The Bush administration action indicates that despite recent correspondence to Congress suggesting otherwise, it is still strongly resisting subpoenas of White House officials to testify about the politically sensitive issue of the firings of the U.S. attorneys.
In his decision, Bates said he doubted that if the White House or administration appealed his decision, they would have an even remote possibility of prevailing:
“The aspect of this lawsuit that is unprecedented is the notion that [former White House Counsel Harriett] Miers [one of those subpoenaed] is absolutely immune from compelled testimony.”
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