Senate Judiciary Committee

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Rove Won't Testify, Citing Privilege

Counsel orders adviser to keep mum; Gonzales stands pat on testimony

(Newser) - The White House has ordered Karl Rove to keep quiet—despite a subpoena by congressional Dems probing the US Attorney firings. In a political fait accompli, counsel Fred Fielding told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the adviser is "immune from compelled congressional testimony" about White House machinations.

Senate Sends Rove Subpoena
Senate Sends Rove Subpoena

Senate Sends Rove Subpoena

Adviser called over role in attorney firings as Dems urge perjury charges for AG

(Newser) - The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed presidential strategist Karl Rove today, over his role in the 2006 US attorney firings. Chairman Patrick Leahy said he’d “exhausted every avenue seeking the voluntary cooperation" of Bush's Brain, and was left no option but to force him to appear.

Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales
Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales

Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales

Senator threatens perjury probe over conflicting accounts

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony this week is at odds with a year-old intelligence document, and the discrepancy may earn the AG in a congressional perjury investigation. At issue is a 2004 White House briefing, which Gonzales has repeatedly testified did not concern the warrantless wiretapping program; a memo from the...

Bush Aide Will Invoke Exec Privilege

Promises to answer limited questions as "willing private citizen"

(Newser) - Former Bush political director Sara Taylor will answer limited questions from Congress but steer clear of anything she thinks would violate executive privilege, according to a copy of her opening statement released early this morning. Taylor is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee later today as part of...

Bush Directs Aides to Defy Subpoenas

Cites executive privilege in bid to stop Miers, Taylor testimony

(Newser) - In an aggressive use of executive privilege, President Bush instructed two of his former aides yesterday to disregard congressional subpoenas demanding they testify about the attorney firings scandal. In a letter to Congress, Bush's counsel rebuffed Democratic senators for encroaching on internal White House affairs, bringing the two branches closer...

Fitzgerald Faces Senate Grilling on Scooter

Committee to probe sentencing guidelines after commutation

(Newser) - The man who prosecuted Scooter Libby for obstruction of justice may be grilled by senators  investigating the case, Bloomberg reports. Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee said yesterday they want to question Patrick Fitzgerald on the case, including sentencing guidelines. In commuting Libby's sentence last week, President Bush claimed it...

Leahy Ready to Take White House to Court

Senator stands behind subpoenas in US attorney probe

(Newser) - Patrick Leahy has a message for White House officials who object to subpoenas issued in the US attorney firing investigation: See you in court. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman took the dispute over executive privilege to the airwaves today, saying, "If they don't cooperate, yes, I'll go that far"...

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas
White House Stonewalls
on Subpoenas

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas

Bush invokes executive privilege in Senate probe of US attorney firings

(Newser) - The White House shot down attempts to subpoena internal documents concerning the US attorney firings today by invoking executive privilege. Though not a surprise, the refusal moved the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to accuse the administration of "Nixonian stonewalling." If the committee doesn't back down, the...

Legal Battle Looms Over Domestic Spy Documents

Senate subpoenas; White House balks

(Newser) - A showdown on the White House's warantless wiretapping program looms after the Senate Judiciary Committee authorized subpoenas for documents on the progam, and the administration said it had no plans to comply, claiming the material is classified and off limits. The president may invoke executive privilege to prevent the documents'...

Gonzales Aide Probed for Political Hiring

Goodling accused of screening prosecutors for party affiliation

(Newser) - The Justice Department is investigating whether Monoica Goodling, the former aide to Alberto Gonzales recently given immunitiy to testify before Congress, illegally used party loyalty as a criteria in hiring federal prosecutors. Goodling's position involved reviewing applications for prosecutors; it's a violation of federal law to consider political affiliation in...

Senate Seeks E-mails From Gonzales

Attorney general receives first subpoena in firing scandal

(Newser) - The Senate demanded all e-mails pertaining to Karl Rove's role in the disputed firing of eight U.S. attorneys from Alberto Gonzales today, setting a May 15 deadline for the attorney general to turn them over. Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which  issued the subpoena, disputes...

Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas
Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas

Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas

Congress gets tough on U.S. attorneys players—and calls Condi in to talk Iraq

(Newser) - The Democratic Congress flexed its oversight muscle today, with both houses dishing out subpoenas all the way up to Condi Rice. A House committee subpoenaed the Secretary of State to discuss the lead-up to the Iraq War, while both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees summoned aides involved in the...

Gonzales Wipes Out
Gonzales
Wipes Out

Gonzales Wipes Out

Even Republicans turn on AG as he tries to defend US attorney decisions

(Newser) - Senate Republicans turned on Alberto Gonzales yesterday, leaving little political wiggle room for the embattled A.G. Even the most mild questions from Republicans— including traditional Bush allies—about the U.S. attorney dismissals yielded embarrassing results for Gonzales, who came across as strangely disengaged from the department he runs.

Gonzales Refuses to Resign
Gonzales Refuses to Resign

Gonzales Refuses to Resign

Bipartisan criticism peppers AG's Senate testimony on U.S. attorney firings

(Newser) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said under oath today he had only limited involvement in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and "did not do anything improper." Testifying before  clearly hostile lawmakers, he spurned calls that he step down, saying, "The moment I believe I can no...

House Vote: Make Rove Testify
House Vote: Make Rove Testify

House Vote: Make Rove Testify

Senate expected to approve subpoenas today in prosecutor firing flap

(Newser) - A House panel authorized subpoenas yesterday and the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to do so today in an effort to force Karl Rove and other top administration figures to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors. With the White House offering only private interviews, not under oath, the scene...

Email Fingers Rove in Attorney Scandal

He knew about the firings in 2005

(Newser) - An email released Thursday implicates Karl Rove in the U.S. attorney firings scandal, suggesting he knew of the plotted purges much earlier than previously acknowledged. In a message dated January 6, 2005, a White House lawyer reported that Rove had asked to discuss the firings with D. Kyle Sampon,...

Stories 101 - 116 | << Prev