Showdown looms for Bush, Congress

[maddezmom]

President Bush fought back on behalf of his embattled attorney general, daring Democrats to subpoena his top aides to testify under oath and setting up a possible constitutional face-off.
BY RICHARD B. SCHMITT AND RICHARD A. SERRANO
Los Angeles Times Service

WASHINGTON --
Inviting a showdown with congressional leaders over the firing of U.S. attorneys, President Bush on Tuesday refused to make White House political strategist Karl Rove available for public questioning under oath.

The president did agree to allow lawmakers to interview Rove and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers in private, but the concessions failed to placate Democrats, who have accused the White House and Justice Department of dismissing eight federal prosecutors for political reasons.

The House and Senate Judiciary Committees readied plans today and Thursday to authorize the issuance of subpoenas for Rove and other officials. Bush said his staff would oppose the subpoenas, setting the stage for a possible constitutional confrontation in which past and current members of the White House staff could be held in contempt of Congress.
~snip~

Congress could vote to find whomever refused to comply in contempt, but the case normally would be prosecuted by the Justice Department, according to Beth Nolan, a White House counsel during the Clinton administration. Nolan said Congress also could choose to use other powers if an official refused to cooperate. These include withholding funding for an agency or refusing to approve administration nominees for executive positions that require Senate confirmation.



more:http://www.miamiherald.com/509/story/47865.html

[Demeter]

1. I'm Salivating At the Thought! And I'm Not the Only One!

BushCo has been asking for this for 6 years, and now, we're gonna give it to them. In spades.