executive privilege

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Mukasey Nixes Bush Aides Contempt Case

AG rejects House request, saying no crime was committed

(Newser) - A  showdown over executive privilege got more likely yesterday when Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he wouldn't pursue contempt charges against two Bush aides, Reuters reports. Mukasey rejected the request from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refer the case to a grand jury, arguing that they had committed no crime...

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers
2007's Biggest White House Whoppers
OPINION
Jan 1, 2008 4:10 PM CST

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers

Slate runs down the Bush team's most dubious legal claims

(Newser) - In her second annual roundup of the Bush administration's most egregious legal arguments, Dahlia Lithwick of Slate offers her top 10 doozies:
  1. The United States does not torture
  2. State-secrets privilege used to shield almost anything.
  3. Almost anything Alberto Gonzales said.
  4. The nine US attorneys were fired for cause.
  5. Anyone who
...

Bush Can't Protect Rove, Senator Says

Executive privilege doesn't hold; ex-aides ordered to testify

(Newser) - President Bush’s attempts to protect Karl Rove from testifying about the firings of US attorneys were shot down today by the Senate Judiciary Committee, meaning Rove will likely face contempt charges unless he complies with congressional subpoenas, the Associated Press reports. Bush had cited executive privilege, which protects advisers,...

Dems Threaten White House With Contempt

Last warning on mum aides in probe of fired attorneys

(Newser) - Democrats have threatened a vote holding White House aides in contempt of Congress if they don't cooperate with an investigation into last year's firing of federal attorneys, the AP reports. A citation, approved this summer by a House judiciary committee, was filed yesterday. If approved by the entire House, a...

Bush Aide Stonewalls Senators
Bush Aide Stonewalls Senators
Aug 2, 2007 3:29 PM CDT

Bush Aide Stonewalls Senators

Rove snubs Judiciary Committee; 29-year-old staffer pleads for sympathy

(Newser) - Karl Rove didn't show up, but the White House sent a 29-year-old aide to field Senate Judiciary Committee questions about the US attorney firings today. Scott Jennings, the first administration figure to testify while still in office, followed the path laid out by ex-boss Sara Taylor in refusing to answer...

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.

House Committee Charges Bush Aides With Contempt

Judiciary Committee votes along party lines to issue contempt citations to Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten

(Newser) - The House Judiciary Committee voted to issue contempt citations to two of President Bush's top aides for defying subpoenas related to the US attorney firings scandal, edging Congress closer to a Constitutional showdown with the White House over its claims of executive privilege. The committee voted along party lines 22-17...

White House Expands Exec Privilege Claims

Congressional Dems face new obstacle in US attorneys probe

(Newser) - White House officials have made a broad new claim to executive privilege that would block the Justice Department from pursuing contempt charges initiated by Congress, the Washington Post reports. Citing a Regan-era legal opinion, they argued that "A US attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or...

Bush Chief of Staff May Face Contempt Charge

House panel rejects privilege claim

(Newser) - White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten may face contempt charges over the administration's refusal  to turn over subpoenened documents. A House panel yesterday voted 7-3 to reject the White House contention that the documents—sought in the probe of the dismissals of US attorneys—are covered by executive privilege,...

Miers May Face Contempt
Miers May Face Contempt
Jul 12, 2007 5:37 PM CDT

Miers May Face Contempt

House panel finds former attorney to Bush was out of order in stiffing subpoena

(Newser) - In a 7-5 vote, a House panel found that former White House counsel Harriet Miers was out of order when she rebuffed a subpoena calling for her to testify about her involvement in the US attorney firings last year. Miers declined to appear before the Judiciary Committee  under orders from...

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...

Nixon Library Ends Watergate Whitewash

Tears down Watergate room

(Newser) - Richard Nixon's library may be backing off its insistence that its honoree was not a crook. The private museum is poised to become a federal institution, and its new director is working to add some nuance to the fiercely pro-Nixon exhibits—starting with the Watergate room. "I can't run...

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
Jun 28, 2007 5:35 PM CDT

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...

Domestic Spying Probe Reaches West Wing

Frustrated Senate committee doles out subpoenas

(Newser) - Patrick Leahy came out swinging against the Bush administration's "sweeping assertions of secrecy and privilege" today, issuing subpoenas to the White House, Dick Cheney's office, the Justice Department, and the NSC. The documents demanded by the Senate Judiciary Committee relate to the warrantless wiretapping of terrorism suspects and 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'...

Four Years of Rove E-mails Go Missing

E-mails may have covered attorney firings

(Newser) - Four years of emails from Karl Rove that are being sought in a congressional investigation are missing and may have been deleted by Rove himself, the Republican National Committee acknowledged yesterday. The RNC operates the server for non-official e-mail accounts Rove and other White House players use for political business;...

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