Time for a fish fry at the White House

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/6316

Time for a fish fry at the White House
by Ed Kociela | Mar 24 2007 -


With one of their own already heading to the slammer for perjury and obstruction of justice, it's no mystery why the White House doesn't want top aides to be sworn in for testimony in the Attorneygate investigation.

These are the bigger fish, the ones closest to the president -- Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, Scott Jennings, William Kelley, Kyle Sampson.

And, yes, Congress should be on a fishing expedition, especially with the dust-up that has erupted over how, when, where and under what conditions these people should discuss the firing of eight federal prosecutors.

The White House has made what it calls a "generous offer" to allow them to sit for private interviews with lawmakers as long as the interviews are not made public, recorded or transcribed and the aides are not placed under oath.

Why not hand them the keys to the vault while they're at it?

The reasoning is that these close aides are covered by the umbrella of executive privilege, which allows them to be "honest" in conversations with the president.

But if, as White House Press Secretary Tony Snow says, the president was out of the loop on the decision to fire the attorneys, these conversations never took place and nothing needs to be shielded, right?

more...

[Eric J in MN]

1. Regarding the Bush Admin argument that top White House advisors...

...mustn't be forced to testify, because then they won't be candid with the president:

Under that logic, nobody should ever have to testify anywhere, because people won't speak candidly at their respective jobs if that possiblity exists.