"Those with nothing to hide. hide nothing"
Can a former president assert executive privilege even after he's left office? To cover non-cabinet figures?
Earlier this week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers let Karl Rove know -- by way of a subpoena -- that he still has a few questions about the Bush administration's Justice Department scandals. So, could Rove stop by the Hill to answer a few questions?
Well...not if former president Bush and his lawyers have anything to do with it.
From Newsweek: "Just four days before he left office, President Bush instructed former White House aide Karl Rove to refuse to cooperate with future congressional inquiries into alleged misconduct during his administration.
On Jan. 16, 2009, then White House Counsel Fred Fielding sent a letter to Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin. The message: should his client receive any future subpoenas, Rove "should not appear before Congress" or turn over any documents relating to his time in the White House. The letter told Rove that President Bush was continuing to assert executive privilege over any testimony by Rove -- even after he leaves office.
A nearly identical letter was also sent by Fielding the day before to a lawyer for former White House counsel Harriet Miers, instructing her not to appear for a scheduled deposition with the House Judiciary Committee. That letter reasserted the White House position that Miers has "absolute immunity" from testifying before Congress about anything she did while she worked at the White House -- a far-reaching claim that is being vigorously disputed by lawyers for the House of Representatives in court.[..]"
Rove relied on claims of executive-privilege to ignore the subpoena the last time - the matter is still pending in the courts - but no one seems to know whether a former president can assert executive privilege after he's left office.
Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, believes that former presidents can still keep executive privilege on things that happened during their time in office...
"To my knowledge, these [letters] are unprecedented," said Peter Shane, an Ohio State University law professor who specializes in executive-privilege issues. "I'm aware of no sitting president that has tried to give an insurance policy to a former employee in regard to post-administration testimony." Shane likened the letter to Rove as an attempt to give his former aide a 'get-out-of-contempt-free card'."
I say if Rove refuses to honor the subpoena, go arrest him. If he refuses to answer questions, hold him in contempt of court...this isn't rocket science.
In reality, the corrupt Bushies will keep stonewalling while we wait to find out about the limits of executive privilege, probably from the Supreme Court. It will take years, and by then some of the people involved will be dead, the public will lose interest and the media will go on the sexier outrages.
And slimy Rove will get away with it.
