Progressive World Review

The House Judiciary committee issued a subpoena to former Bush advisor Karl Rove.  According to a Washington Post New York Times article written by Neil Lewis, the committee is looking to question Rove on matters concerning the firings of several federal prosecutors that were believed to be dismissed for political rather than performance reasons as well as the possibly politically motivated prosecution of former Alabama Governor Donald Siegelman,

WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Committee pressed its investigation of possible political influence in Justice Department prosecutions on Thursday by issuing a subpoena to Karl Rove, the former chief political operative at the Bush White House.

Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the committee chairman, said the subpoena was necessary because Mr. Rove had explicitly declined an invitation to appear voluntarily. Mr. Conyers and fellow committee Democrats say they want to question Mr. Rove about the dismissals of several federal prosecutors and ask whether he knows anything about the decision to prosecute former Gov. Donald E. Siegelman of Alabama, a Democrat.

Mr. Siegelman, who was convicted on a bribery charge, was released from prison in March pending an appeal after an appeals court ruled that he had raised “substantial questions” about his case.

It remains to be seen whether Rove will comply with the subpoena, Bush may further flaunt the law by invoking Executive Privilege barring Rove from testifying.  Another Bush operative, Harriet Miers has also, like Rove, declined to testify voluntarily and additionally, defied a subpoena.  Her case is now before a federal court,

Mr. Rove’s lawyer also noted that the House committee was engaged in a similar conflict with Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, who has also declined to provide voluntary testimony about the dismissals of the federal prosecutors and has defied a subpoena. That issue has landed in federal court, and Mr. Luskin said the Rove matter should await the resolution of that case.

Mr. Conyers, in a letter to Mr. Luskin on Thursday, said that the request to Mr. Rove was wider than the one to Ms. Miers because it also sought information about the Siegelman prosecution.

While partisan political games are common in Washington and played by both sides, the Justice department has traditionally been free of such issues.  The Justice department is charged with upholding the law regardless of political affiliation and often must investigate the very people who appointed them.  The politicization of this department by Bush, under the direction of Rove was a part of their larger plan for the permanent Republican majority envisioned by the conservatives and represents one of the more egregious examples of the lawlessness of the Bush administration.

Typically, whenever it’s suggested that one aspect or another of Bush’s presidency should be investigated, it’s dismissed as nothing more than partisan finger pointing or political maneuvering but the fact is, in order for our government to represent the people as it was originally intended, much work needs to be done to reverse the expansion of presidential power under Bush.  And in order to do that, it’s imperative that these types of investigations move forward uncovering as much as possible.

–Paul Wilden

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