Karl Rove and the "congressional criminal contempt statute". Gaming Congress.

[madfloridian]

And apparently hoping President Obama will just look the other way as he refuses to appear before Congress.

This explanation is part of a write-up by John Dean at FindLaw. I have one thing to say...there is very little consequence for refusing to appear before Congress....a fine of no more than $1000 and imprisonment of not more than a year.

Rove Is Gaming Congress, While Betting President Obama Will Look the Other Way

In addition, as grand jury testimony is secret, Rove must be well-aware that his confessions of what he may have done regarding the firing of U.S. Attorneys will never be known outside the grand jury room – unless he is prosecuted. And given the fact that U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of a president, it will not be easy to base a prosecution upon their removal, even if it was for political reasons. Congressional proceedings are, of course, almost always held in public. So clearly, Rove's strategy is to tell the grand jury what it wants to hear in secret, and to hope that will be the end of the matter.

....."Rove will be able to pull this strategy off if the Obama Justice Department refuses to enforce the Congressional criminal contempt statute, like the Bush and Reagan Administrations before it. This appears to be the bet that Rove and his lawyer have placed, initially at least. If the Justice Department chooses this course, that would force Congress to use civil litigation, and the Bush Administration's White House Counsel Fred Fielding has given Rove the wherewithal to litigate for years on the civil side.

Here is the Congressional Criminal Contempt Statute to which the article links:

Section 192. Refusal of witness to testify or produce papers

Every person who having been summoned as a witness by the
authority of either House of Congress to give testimony or to
produce papers upon any matter under inquiry before either House,
or any joint committee established by a joint or concurrent
resolution of the two Houses of Congress, or any committee of
either House of Congress, willfully makes default, or who, having
appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question
under inquiry, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and
imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more
than twelve months.

John Dean continues in the article:

If the Obama Justice Department forces Congress to proceed civilly to enforce its subpoenas, then the House Judiciary Committee will have to find Rove in contempt for claiming absolute immunity; the entire House will have to vote on it; and the committee will have file a lawsuit. In turn, the lawsuit will go from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the District, to the U.S. Supreme Court – where Rove will likely lose, and thus be forced to appear before the committee. However, when Rove appears, he will invoke “executive privilege.” This issue, in turn, will have to be litigated all the way to the Supreme Court – where Rove will likely lose again. When called before the committee after that, he will no doubt take the Firth Amendment, an assertion that will also have to be litigated. In short, this could go on for years.

..."The bottom line, however, is this: Unless the Obama Justice Department says the criminal code sections regarding contempt of Congress will be honored and applied, no one should expect to hear anything publicly from Rove under oath anytime soon, if ever.

This whole situation of the Bush Administration thumbing their noses at Congress just sickens me. And if our party doesn't stand up and do something, such travesties will continue.

Karl Rove has terrific media access....columns in Newsweek and Time and a role at Fox News. Meanwhile those who speak up against him are arrested and charged.

Four who tried citizen's arrest of Karl Rove on trial today. Karl still given credibility by media.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A jury is expected to begin deliberations on Friday in the case of 4 people who attempted to arrest former White House adviser Karl Rove during a fundraising appearance earlier this year in Iowa.

Facing charges of trespassing are retired Methodist minister Chet Guinn, two members of the social welfare group Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, Edward Bloomer and Mona Shaw, and former group member Kirk Brown.

..."In the citizens arrest complaint, the defendants accused Rove of felony murder, election fraud, conspiracy to commit offense or defraud the United States leading to the war in Iraq, as well as treason, sedition and subversive activities

The four were found guilty as charged, and I don't think the sentence was harsh. But they paid while Karl Rove walks.

At the link above is an article that involves Rove in compiling a list of attorneys to be fired.

The Justice Department already found, in its report on the U.S. Attorney firings, that the White House engineered the firings, and that inappropriate political concerns had played in to several of the dismissals.

Still, the Senate Judiciary Committee released a report on the episode today that goes a little further. Its "Majority" (that is, Democratic) section concludes:

"The evidence...shows that the list for firings was compiled with participation from the highest political ranks in the White House, including former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

The evidence shows that senior officials were focused on the political impact of Federal prosecutions and whether Federal prosecutors were doing enough to bring partisan voter fraud and corruption cases. It is now apparent that the reasons given for these firings, including those reasons provided in sworn testimony by the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, were contrived as part of a cover-up."
TPM Muckraker

The full title of John Dean's article at Find Law is more interesting.

"Karl Rove Is Betting He Can Avoid Publicly Disclosing His Role In the Bush Administration's Firing Of Independent-Minded U. S. Attorneys—But He May Be Wrong"

Hope he is wrong.

[msongs]

1. ho ho ho! karl baby knows how dems are, maybe he's making a safe play lol nt

[madfloridian]

3. Probably right. A safe play.

:hi:

[azul]

2. Frustrating, I guess the constitution protects such criminal rascals

even after they've disrespected and trashed it.

Money and connections make a mockery of justice sometimes in the US.

[madfloridian]

5. Very frustrating. Especially when he gets such media credibility.

.

[earcandle]

4. Respect the Law or Politics? Let us not be stupid.

Politics have power when it goes around the law.

Law has power when our politics are aligned with our
constitution. 

Please stop the bleeding. 

[madfloridian]

6. It's more convenient to just let Rove go.

It makes me furious. It's the politics of convenience.

[madfloridian]

7. A look back at more from TPM Muckraker about WH and Rove guilt.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/report_shows_white_house_engineered.php

"In the fall of 2006, with the prospect looming of the GOP losing control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, the White House seemed to get newly serious about the initiative. In September, Miers emailed Sampson again to ask for his "current thinking" on the plan, prompting him to send yet another list. A few days later, Miers responded to Sampson's latest list: "I have not forgotten I need to follow up."

After the Republican loss in the 06 midterms, things heated up. On November 15, Sampson sent his latest list to Miers and Kelley, asking them to circulate it to "Karl (Rove)'s shop," and adding that he would wait for a "green light" from the White House before moving forward. Miers responded that she would need to determine whether the president's sign-off was needed, but that he was out of town. Sampson told OIG that when he then asked who at the White House would decide whether the president's approval was indeed required (a task that would appear to fall to Miers herself, in her position as White House counsel) he never heard back from Miers.

Then on December 4, Kelley emailed Sampson, copying Miers, with the approval DOJ had been waiting for -- and an acknowledgment that the move would likely ruffle feathers. "We're a go for the US Atty plan. WH leg, political, and communications have signed off and acknowledged that we have to be committed to following through once the pressure comes," Kelley wrote.

Three days later, seven U.S. attorneys received phone calls from DOJ asking them to resign."

[bluesmail]

8. We can take comfort knowing this is breaking his bank...oh hold on

The bankers got billions and won't say where the billions went. Crap, back down to zero for the little people.

[Tigress DEM]

9. So fine him $1000 and throw his ass in jail for a year. Solitary. No phone.

Keep him from making trouble for a little while.

Doesn't seem like much, but if ever reTHUG who pulled this prank got fined and thrown in jail for a year, this behavior would quit faster than that silly rabbit with no fur on iceskates with the overcaffinated jet pilot heading him into the best wind possible off the ski jump.

[omega minimo]

10. K/R for JOHN DEAN

:yourock:

[malaise]

11. Excellent post

Rove must pay.

[jtrockville]

12. How about updating the law?

Increase the penalty, otherwise Congress will never get their power of subpoena power back.

[mod mom]

13. The question for the Obama Administration is 'are we a land of laws?' If so, then no one is above

law. Prosecute the bastard!

[defendandprotect]

14. Why wouldn't Congress and the Courts update these penalties . . .

When were they set? 40 years ago?

And, seemingly, what we haven't amply penalized is happening more frequently now!

It's in Congress' own interest in preserving their authority to get down to business

and make these penalties more appropo to the crimes committed over these past 8 years!

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. If we are ever going to find out what happened,

Rove needs to talk. Publicly. Obama's commitment to transparency will be judged based on the information it manages to get out of Rove and other big players.

[obiwan]

16. Frog march that fat fuck neo to jail!