The Political Chase

Leahy Finally Moves on WH Executive Privilege Claim

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Did the rapture come and I missed it? Something finally woke Patrick Leahy up.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ruled today that "White House claims of executive privilege and immunity in the Senate’s investigation of the mass firings of U.S. Attorneys are overbroad, unsubstantiated, and not legally valid."While it’s not clear to me what legal implications Leahy’s ruling may have other than procedural, at least the issue has been moved from cryogenic storage to a thawing table.

More than five months ago (June 13 and July 26) the Committee issued subpoenas to, amongst others, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, former White House political director Sara M. Taylor, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and White House deputy political director J. Scott Jennings. The White House promptly declared Executive Privilege to everything under the sun and refused to let most of those subpoena even appear before Congress to formally exert their claim. Limited testimony was given by Taylor and Jennings.

Since the White House thumbed its nose at Congress, other than exchanging strong letters and meaningless rhetoric, nothing has been done to challenge the administration’s claims. Of course, some of that inaction is directly related to Alberto Gonzales. The Justice Department is responsible for prosecuting contempt citations, and Bush ordered Gonzales to not allow any prosecutor to pursue contempt charges (iirc).

In his ruling today, Leahy said:

“I have given the White House’s claims of executive privilege and immunity careful consideration,” wrote Leahy. “I hereby rule that those claims are not legally valid to excuse current and former White House employees from appearing, testifying and producing documents related to this investigation. Accordingly, I direct Mr. Bolten, Mr. Rove, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Jennings to comply immediately with the Committees subpoenas by producing documents and testifying or face possible contempt citations.”

According to Roll Call (subscription), the Committee could issue contempt citations for each person that does not comply — including Karl Rove — as early as December 6. The House Judiciary Committee has already approve contempt citations, therefore the next step is for each committee to get full approval of their respective Houses. The House does not require a super-majority vote, therefore approval is all but assured. If a 60-vote super-majority approval is required in the Senate, my guess is Leahy’s citations will be DOA.

Mike Gravel may be president by the time Congress actually gets around to prosecuting anybody.