Rove Will Face Congressional Inquiry Over Attorney Firings

After years of questionable moves that appeared to defy ethics and the rules, a GOP legislator claims Congress is on a "witch hunt".

Courtesy: Brennan Center for Justice

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A U.S. congressional panel reviewing the case against disputed presidential plan weaver Karl Rove, cast a vote today that finds the former presidential adviser in contempt. It is coming down over his defiance of a subpoena to testify in its probe into suspected political meddling at the Justice Department.

The Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee called for a vote on the matter and all Democrats sided with the move to bust Rove, while Republicans all voted to bury the matter. The lost and a citation was approved in a party-line vote of 20-1. The citation against President Bush's former deputy chief of staff now goes to the full House for approval.

If Rove were to be convicted of contempt of Congress, he could face up to a year in jail. It is also true however that even if he is, appeals could likely stretch out the matter until after Bush's term ends in January 2009 at which point a new congress will be in place.

A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to answer questions about the dismissals of several federal prosecutors as its Senate counterpart explored punishments for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds.

The AP reports the House Judiciary Committee's contention that Rove broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10th hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether he encouraged prosecutions against Democrats such as former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.

To keep things interesting, this committee decision only amounts to a recommendation. It was not clear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would allow a final vote. Pelosi has been steadfast in helping block impeachment matters involving Bush and Cheney, to the dismay of many of her fellow Democrats. The position of the White House is that Congress lacks authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers.

As this vote involving Rove occurred, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing over allegations of administration wrongdoing that ranged from discriminating against liberals at Justice to ignoring subpoenas and lying to Congress, The AP reported.

Rove has denied any involvement with Justice decisions, and the White House has said Congress has no authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers.

His attorney, Robert Luskin, urged the panel in a letter Tuesday letter not to cite his client. He said it was a "gratuitously punitive" action and he contends that it would lack purpose as the question of executive privilege is already pending in two other cases in federal court.

Not surprisingly, with few alternatives at hand, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the panel, equates the questioning of Rove to 'witch hunts' in spite of the national joke that Rove's antics have become. He and other Republicans who sided with Rove accused Democrats of staging political theater. He implied that this is the only matter at hand, saying "Instead of conducting witch hunts, we should consider bipartisan legislation to reduce the price of gas, reduce crime and secure the borders."

Democrats fired back with recent internal audits tha indicated politics heavily shaped Justice Department hiring. They stated that Rove's choices made the contempt citation the only option.

"His name has come up repeatedly in the hearings on this subject," Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich said. "Yet he refuses to testify based on legally invalid claims of immunity privilege."

The committee probe is a component in a broad Democratic effort to challenge what they see as Bush's needless and unlawful expansion of his presidential powers during his two terms in office. Earlier this year, the House approved contempt citations against Josh Bolten, White House Chief of Staff, and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers.

The two were cited for refusing to comply with subpoenas demanding documents and testimony in a congressional probe into the firing in 2006 of nine of the 93 U.S. attorneys.

Democrats now say they want to ask Karl Rove questions about the attorney dismissals, and also about the decision to prosecute former Alabama Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman for bribery. Some of the legislators are also interested in asking Rove about the inspector general's report that found former Justice Department aides improperly considered politics in hiring decisions.

According to the AP's report, Glenn A. Fine, the Justice Department Inspector General who reported this week that former department officials broke the law by letting Bush administration politics dictate the hiring of prosecutors, immigration judges and career government lawyers, was among the witnesses to appear Wednesday before the Senate panel.

Fine says his office and the Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating the prosecutor firings and whether Bradley Schlozman, former head of the department's Civil Rights Division, used political or ideological criteria to make hiring decisions.

Fine told Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the panel's senior Republican, that he found no evidence indicating that any Justice officials made false statements to Congress or violated criminal law. He said politicization of the hiring process for career positions is a violation of civil law and department policy.

The Senate probe stems from the firings of nine federal prosecutors that sparked congressional investigations last year and led to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.