House Committee Subpoenas Rove

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House Committee Subpoenas Rove
May 23, 2008
Knight Ridder

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on May 22 subpoenaed former White House political director Karl Rove to force him to testify about allegations that he and other political operatives pressured the Justice Department to prosecute Southern Democrats.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the committee chairman, issued the subpoena after weeks of icy correspondence with Rove's lawyer, who argued that Rove is covered by executive privilege and doesn't have to testify. Attorney Robert Luskin said that Rove would agree only to answer questions in writing or in an off-the-record session that isn't transcribed.

Rove, a central figure in the controversy that led to last year's resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other Justice Department officials, departed last year after President Bush first told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would invoke executive privilege to block a congressional subpoena.

The House committee wants to ask Rove about an array of allegations of political influence in the Justice Department, among them charges that former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz and others were targeted for prosecution. Internal Justice Department watchdogs also are investigating the allegations.

Conyers' committee has sued in federal court to challenge President Bush's claim of executive privilege for White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, who were cited for contempt-of-Congress charges when they followed Bush's guidance and refused to testify. The committee sought their appearances as part of its inquiry into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys whose ousters triggered the scandal.


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