Separation of Powers, Executive Privilege, and Condi

[The Spirit of JFK]

Since Condi has been using the separation of power and executive privilege card, I'd like to get some input from someone who knows more about he constitutional and legal merits of her argument.

Any legal scholars out there who would like to weigh in?

[Kagemusha]

1. They're using separation of powers as a lance to skewer

checks and balances.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

2. They've negated their argument...

...about no high cabinet officials testifying due to separation of powers when the had the Secretary of State (the very first cabinet post to be created) and the Secretary of Defense testifying. And executive privledge would apply to the president, not his advisers.

They should have subpoenaed her lying ass. Then had her arrested if she did not appear. Hopefully they'd have that power. Have the Sergeant-at-Arms knock on the White House door and walk in, dragging her out kicking and screaming...ah, daydreams. :-)

[Kagemusha]

3. It was specifically set up not to have that power IIRC.

And the argument is that subpoenaing Rice would jeopardize Bush's right to free and fair advice. The problem being, they want that right to be absolute and to trump every other consideration, like a free people's right to know how the homeland was jeopardized by inaction and inattention.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

4. The difference being with Clinton...

...we had to know RIGHT THEN if he fooled around with Monica, because the nation could not go on otherwise.

[The Spirit of JFK]

5. Nixon

In 1974, the Supreme Court recognized "the valid need for protection of
communications between high Government officials and those who advise and assist
them in the performance of their manifold duties." (US v Nixon, 1974), but
concluded that executive privilege is not absolute...that the privilege must
yield to the interests of the government and defendants in a criminal
prosecution.

The year before, Nixon, objecting to WH counsel John Dean being at Congressional hearings, claimed that the separation of powers, and therefore, executive privilege, extended to his staff since they were an extension of the President. (He also used the lawyer-client privilege, as well.) In the span of a couple of months, though, he twice relaxed his "rules" to the point of revoking the right of privilege concerning possible criminal conduct for WHite House staff, including Dean. SInce then there have been many many occurences of White House and other senior administration staff appearing before committees.