WASHINGTON – Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of a House subcommittee, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove was breaking the law by refusing to cooperate — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress. Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May in an effort to force him to talk about whether he played a role in prosecutors’ decisions to pursue cases against Democrats, such as former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, or in firing federal prosecutors considered disloyal to the Bush administration. Rove had been scheduled to appear at the House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday morning. A placard with his name sat in front of an empty chair at the witness table, with a handful of protesters behind it calling for Rove to be arrested.

A decision on whether to pursue contempt charges now goes to the full Judiciary Committee and ultimately to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. House Republicans called Thursday’s proceedings a political stunt and said if Democrats truly wanted information they would take Rove up on an offer he made to discuss the matter informally. The House already has voted to hold two of President Bush’s confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry into whether the administration fired nine federal prosecutors in 2006 for political reasons.

I won’t hold my breath waiting for Pelosi to do anything useful.




  1. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    If the Dems don’t jump on this, they’re spineless, worthless pieces of shit.

  2. Paddy-O says:

    This won’t go anywhere. Good for election year grandstanding though. Trying to force a Pres aide to testify on political advice he/she gave to Pres will never make it past a judge.

    Most dems won’t push it as they don’t want precedent set that can be used against a dem pres.

  3. bobbo says:

    Well you know, he was ordered not to go by Bush. The most lawless President I am aware of==worse than Nixon.

    The notion congress won’t take action in order to preserve “flexibility” for the next president (assuming its Obama) is extremely strong evidence the two party system has taken over two branches of government effectively destroying constitutional checks and balances.

    Shameful.

  4. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    #3 Bobbo – I agree with everything you say but I don’t believe Georgie Boy calls the shots. He’s just a dumbass that Rove controls. Rove is the true evil behind the crown.

  5. Paddy-O says:

    #3 “The notion congress won’t take action in order to preserve “flexibility” for the next president ”

    It’s not a notion. Study the whole “Executive privilege” situation. Both parties strive to keep it in place. It’s been going on for decades.

  6. Ah_Yea says:

    I have to agree with both Bobbo and Monster Lawyer with this.

    All we have here is another shameful political grandstanding. Rove already has calculated his way out without every having to take the stand, and the more the Dems press the issue, the more the Dems will look like castrated fools.

    In the game of Politics, Rove is the Grand Master and the Dems are a high school club.

  7. Ivor Biggun says:

    Contempt of Congress is a badge of honor rather than a crime. These congressmorons do nothing but urinate and moan and then do nothing about solving any of the problems they allegedly see. More people need to stand up to these vermin and let them know that they are what they are. I dream of seeing an oil company executive on the stand saying “yeah, we’re making a crapload of money, whatcha gonna do about it??”. I would applaud loudly at that. Go Karl Rove!!

  8. Li says:

    Rove, the grand master?!

    Oh yes, the man who engineered the utter congressional defeat of an ascendant political party, in a time of war, after a serious domestic attack, primarily by going back on so much “core principle” and by doing so many jack-ass things that even people who supported the party for decades couldn’t hold their nose and vote for them. And loosing to this bunch of spineless pantywaists, even while the mainstream media has been made such a puppet that people like you still think that Rove is a “grand master” of anything but epic fail?!?

    Give me a break. Either the dems are a) worthless b) complicit or c) in fear for their lives. Period.

  9. Fooling you all says:

    Hiding in plain sight is what this is. Everyone knows that nothing will be done about it and yet the sabre rattling keeps on going. Another nasty letter after another. I’m sure people around the world are wondering how and why this is happening.

  10. Ben says:

    He probably thinks that if he doesn’t testify that they will not be able to charge him with perjury. The only reason they are calling him to testify is so he will fall in their perjury trap. He is too smart for that.

  11. Li says:

    Um, contempt of congress is a worse crime than perjury, last I checked. There must be some really serious crime that he is hiding to risk this. Either that, or he knows that congress is a puppet, at this point. I hope for the former, because the latter will be very hard to correct.

  12. Ah_Yea says:

    As I said, Rove is the Master. He knows that he will never testify, and here is why.

    “Turley believes that the White House is simply “trying to run the clock out.” When asked if Congress would go as far as trying to jail Rove, he answered, “I don’t think we’re going to get to that,”… Sekoff doubts that the House will actually try to put Rove in jail. “Nothing will happen,” he stated pessimistically. “They’ll refer it to the Justice Department … and the clock will run out.”
    http://tinyurl.com/5dpjkx

    Rove: 1,202,303,444.
    Congress and the Constitution: 0

  13. Unimatrix0 says:

    Way to go Rove! Tell that worthless democrat led congress to shove it up their collective asses

  14. Special Ed says:

    #1 said, “If the Dems don’t jump on this, they’re spineless, worthless pieces of shit.”

    The Dems are a spineless, worthless pieces of shit.

    FTFY

  15. Mister Ketchup says:

    Too bad Cheney can’t take Rove hunting.

  16. Sea Lawyer says:

    Funny, I have nothing but contempt for the Congress too.

  17. Malcolm says:

    Karl Rove should be executed.

  18. Typical is the first word that comes to mind. I hope they nail this guy right quick and send a clear message not to razz Congress; then again, hope is like human rights: nice idea but no substance.

  19. the answer says:

    Thumb all you want ass. ain’t gonna do good when you see a hail of 9mm brass coming at ya. Which I can see the country just flipping out and revolting if something like this came to the public eye.

    p.s. thanks for the stimulus for the new Beretta.

    then again if he can deny it, Shouldn’t we as citizens say well he did it so can we. That’s how a lot of decisions are played out in court, from prior decisions. I think.

  20. MikeN says:

    The issue I have is where does Congress get the right to subpoena anyone? You are allowed to subpoena witnesses in your defense for a trial. This isn’t a court of law.

    I don’t care about it in this case, but it bothers me when they call up Mark McGwire and ask him questions and ruin his whole career. Congress shouldn’t have the right to get answers for every question the media can’t uncover.

  21. F. Gump says:

    Rove is as Rove does.

  22. Ah_Yea says:

    #20, MikeN. You touched on something fundamental here. Congress does not have the right or ability to arrest anyone. That right belongs solely to the Judiciary branch. If Congress subpoenas you and you don’t appear, it’s up to the Justice department to prosecute.

    Now here is where it gets interesting. Technically, the Judiciary branch has little to no authority over the Executive Branch. Yes, we know about Nixon and such, but Nixon resigned before the issue of Executive Privilege was put before the Supreme Court. So this issue of limit to Judiciary authority is unanswered.

    This strikes to the very issue of separation of the three branches. If the Judiciary branch can arrest the President, then technically the Judiciary branch has absolute power over the Executive branch. A clear violation of the fundamental separation of powers.

    So here is the loophole. Rove is claiming Executive Privilege. Congress cannot arrest him because the question of whether the Judiciary has any authority over him is still up in the air.

    Therefore, before the Judiciary can arresting Rove on any charges, the question of how far the Judiciary can reach into the Executive Branch has to be answered. This is a Supreme Court issue, and will take years to determine (assuming the Supreme Court takes the case at all).

    Then, even if the Supreme Court asserts that the Judiciary can arrest Karl Rove, we still have the actual trial to go through. This would take a number of additional years.

    Karl Rove could die from natural causes before this is over.

    Not to mention Congress itself probably doesn’t want to know the answer because what good for the goose is good for the gander. The reach of the Judiciary into the Executive will also include Congress.

    And let’s face it, the Judiciary is already too strong. Do we really want to give them even more power?

    Don’t you think Congress already knows this? Of course they do.

    So, it’s all for show. Political theater, which makes the Dems look all the more stupid because the outcome is already known.

    Chalk another up for Karl.

  23. Wally the Engineer says:

    Bush is going to pardon him anyway at the end of his term, so it’s really only a waste of money to prosecute him.

    That’s why Pelosi and co. aren’t going to actually DO anything. They know he’s got a “get out of jail free” card in his pocket.

  24. Li says:

    #22 The Congress -does- have the power to arrest people, the House Bailiff has that power, if so ordered by the legislature. They even have a little unused set of jail cells down in the basement of the Capitol Building. . . .

  25. Ah_Yea says:

    #24, Li. Nope, try again. If you actually look at the link I provided in #12, you will find your mistake. And Congress certainly does not have the power to arrest someone who is working under Executive Privilege, which is what we are talking about.

  26. Ah_Yea says:

    Congress can Impeach someone, but not arrest them. There is a difference. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying to Congress, but he didn’t go to jail…

  27. deowll says:

    Not sure if it is a bigger risk to testify under oath or just be in contempt when the other party calls the shots.

    If anything you say doesn’t stack up you can go to jail and with enough people asking questions with malice you are more or less certain to bleep up at least once.

    Did he do something wrong? Wouldn’t be all that surprised. Bush and his buddies are inclined to think that the law is for everybody else.

  28. MikeN says:

    The ‘judiciary branch’ doesn’t arrest anyone. That is done by the executive branch.

  29. McCullough says:

    The system is broken. Understand this and maybe we can move forward.

  30. Ah_Yea says:

    #28. MikeN. Judicial Branch doesn’t arrest anyone?

    Mike, don’t let a judge find out whatever you’re smokin’ ’cause he will have you arrested!

    “the judiciary or judicial system is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial


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