The House Judiciary Committee has voted 20-14 to approve a contempt of Congress resolution against former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for his failure to appear after a Congressional subpoena.
However:
It remains unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will allow a final vote.
I'm not holding my breath.
[Via C&L.]
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House Judiciary Chair John Conyers sends off another sternly worded letter, this time to the Republican National Committee.
Do you think RNC chief Robert Duncan is quaking in his loafers or laughing?
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Harriet Miers still refuses the subpoena and House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers responds with...stern words.
I give up.
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The Justice Department misses the deadline set by the House Judiciary Committee to turn over subpoenaed documents in the USA purge.
Committee Chairman John Conyers:
(Washington, DC)- Today, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued the following statement in response to the Justice Department’s failure to comply with the Committee’s subpoena response deadline of 2 p.m. today. The subpoena seeks information the Department has continued to refuse to provide or has provided only in redacted form.“We are disappointed that the Justice Department failed to produce the documents and other materials for which we issued a subpoena last week. While we understand that the Department considers this effort a priority and we plan to continue working with them, we will review all available legal options to secure compliance with the subpoena.”
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Nixon Administration alumnus Fred Fielding, currently White House counsel, writes to John Conyers here.
The offer, remember, was 1) to turn over records of all relevant communications from a White House official to a party outside the White House (but no internal communications are to be turned over) and 2) Karl Rove and other White House officials would meet with Congress privately, but there would be no transcript and no oath. The offer also restricts the range of questioning.But it gets better. Those RNC-issued email accounts belonging to White House staff are also to be covered under the deal. And Fieldings says "it was and remains our intention to collect e-mails and documents from those [RNC-controlled] accounts."
In other words, whatever emails Congress gets, they'll have to get through the White House -- and they won't get anything unless they get it as part of Fielding's "unified offer," his “carefully and thoughtfully considered package of accommodations.”
[...]
As House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) put it: “The White House position seems to be that executive privilege not only applies in the Oval Office, but to the R.N.C. as well. There is absolutely no basis in law or fact for such a claim.”
At this rate any opinion you have about George will have to be left unsaid until you get permission from the White House to speak.
"Executive Privilege," don't ya know.
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ADDED: Steve Benen calls this "Executive privilege on crack"
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