By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
July 1, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said
Sunday he was ready to go to court if the White House resisted
subpoenas for information on the firing of federal prosecutors.
"If they don't cooperate, yes I'll go that far," said
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. He was asked in a broadcast interview
whether he would seek a congressional vote on contempt citations
if President Bush did not comply. That move would push the
matter to court.
"They've chosen confrontation rather than compromise
or cooperation," Leahy said. "The bottom line is
in the U.S. attorney investigation, we have people manipulating
law enforcement. Law enforcement can't be partisan."
At issue is whether the White House exerted undue political
influence in the firing of prosecutors. Leahy's hardening stance
is pushing the Democratic-led investigation ever closer to
a constitutional showdown over executive power and Congress'
right to oversight.
The White House accused the committee of overreaching.
"After thousands of pages of documents, interviews and
testimony by Justice Department officials, it's clear that
there's simply no merit for this overreach," presidential
spokesman Tony Fratto said.
He said Leahy "is seeking access to candid and confidential
deliberations from the president's advisers — an intrusion
he would never subject his own staff to. We have gone to great
lengths to accommodate the committee in their oversight responsibilities."
Separately, the Senate has subpoenaed the White House and
Vice President Dick Cheney's office for documents related to
the administration's legal basis for conducting warrant-free
eavesdropping on people in the United States.
Leahy and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., who heads the House
Judiciary Committee, have demanded a White House explanation
by July 9 as to its basis for claiming executive privilege
in refusing to turn over additional documents.
The two lawmakers have said that regardless of whether the
White House meets the deadline, they would begin acting to
enforce the subpoenas as appropriate under the law.
Legal experts have been somewhat divided over the scope of
a president's power to shield information and ensure candid
advice from top aides. The dispute, if it does head to court,
could take months and ultimately outlast the remaining term
of Bush's presidency, which ends in January 2009.
Last week, White House counsel Fred Fielding said Bush was
claiming executive privilege. Bush also was invoking the privilege
to prevent Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, and
Sara Taylor, the former political director, from testifying
publicly under oath.
The White House has urged the House and Senate Judiciary committees
to withdraw the subpoenas and accept Bush's offer to provide
information in private briefings with lawmakers without a transcript.
Over the years, Congress and the White House have avoided
a full-blown court test. Under federal rules, lawmakers could
vote to cite witnesses for contempt and refer the matter to
the local U.S. attorney to bring before a grand jury. Since
1975, 10 senior administration officials have been cited, but
the disputes were all resolved before getting to court.
On Sunday, Leahy dismissed the White House's proposal for
private briefings because, he said, it forecloses Congress'
right to subpoena additional information should officials fail
to provide meaningful information.
Leahy said he might be open to an offer in which White House
officials were to agree to private briefings that were both
sworn and committed to a transcript. But ultimately, the public
have a right to hear what's been done, he said.
Leahy's committee also has summoned Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales to testify this month on the eavesdropping program
and an array of other matters that have cost a half-dozen top
Justice Department officials their jobs.
"The president and vice president are not above the law
anymore than you and I are," Leahy said.
Fratto, the White House spokesman, said the program was designed
as an early-warning system to detect and prevent terrorist
attacks by intercepting communications in or out of the U.S.
by suspected al-Qaida terrorists. He said intelligence committees
in Congress have been consistently briefed on the programs.
"It was safe and effective and saved lives," Fratto
said.
Leahy spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."
___
Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann in Kennebunkport, Maine,
contributed to this report.
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