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  • (January 12, 2023, 01:18:11 AM)

Author Topic: Democrats Fault Bush on Executive Privilege  (Read 2265 times)

Wunderkind

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Democrats Fault Bush on Executive Privilege
« on: April 10, 2008, 11:19:55 PM »

This makes me get my hopes up. Perhaps there is justice.


Excerpt:
Quote
Lawyers for the Democratic-led panel argued in court documents that Bush's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers are not protected from subpoenas last year that sought information about the dismissals.

The legal filing came in lawsuit that pits the legislative branch against the executive in a fight over a president's powers.

The committee is seeking the testimony as it tries to make a case that the White House directed the firing of nine U.S. attorneys because they were not supportive enough of Republicans' political agenda.

The White House says such information is private and covered by executive privilege, the doctrine intended to protect the confidentiality of presidential communications.

House lawyers told U.S. District Judge John D. Bates that subpoenaed White House officials cannot simply skip hearings as Miers did during the committee's investigation. Further, they said, any documents or testimony believed to be covered by the privilege must be itemized for Congress' assessment.

Executive privilege is not a right spelled out in the Constitution, so the legal issues are murky and disputes are normally resolved politically. The suit is risky for both sides. Courts have not been kind to the presidency in fights over subpoenas; Congress could have its power to demand information curtailed permanently.

The White House has said Bush was not personally involved in deciding which U.S. prosecutors to fire and that any White House communications on the matter are off-limits under the privilege. Presidential counsel Fred Fielding declared Miers and Bolten immune from prosecution because their refusal to comply with the subpoenas was done at the White House's direction under the privilege.

He also did not provide a privilege log, arguing that revealing the information sought would compromise the president's access to candid advice.

The result, the committee wrote, is White House defiance of congressional oversight unseen since the presidential intransigence that led to Richard Nixon's resignation
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BizB

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Re: Democrats Fault Bush on Executive Privilege
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2008, 08:14:09 AM »
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The committee is seeking the testimony as it tries to make a case that the White House directed the firing of nine U.S. attorneys because they were not supportive enough of Republicans' political agenda.
US Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president.  He doesn't need to give a reason or defend a reason for firing them.  This is a witch hunt and the only thing they could hope for is a process crime like they got Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby on.
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reimero

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Re: Democrats Fault Bush on Executive Privilege
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2008, 08:50:45 AM »
There's also the minor issue that Congress can choose to hold someone in contempt of Congress, but if the Justice Department doesn't feel like enforcing it, there's not much Congress can do.
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Wunderkind

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Re: Democrats Fault Bush on Executive Privilege
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2008, 01:58:53 PM »
Quote from: BizB on April 11, 2008, 08:14:09 AM
...the only thing they could hope for is a process crime like they got Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby on.

Hey, hope is hope. I'm tired of seeing him getting away with stuff under the guise of "I'm the President." As if that is somehow puts him above the law or something. Well at least in the United States that he's envisioning, that's how it would work. I'll take a technicality over nothing at all any day.

Quote from: reimero on April 11, 2008, 08:50:45 AM
There's also the minor issue that Congress can choose to hold someone in contempt of Congress, but if the Justice Department doesn't feel like enforcing it, there's not much Congress can do.

I'm ignoring this because I don't feel like acknowledging it. It depresses me and I want to keep my head in the sand as long as possible.



...


What?




At least I came out and said it.
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xolik

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Re: Democrats Fault Bush on Executive Privilege
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2008, 03:09:40 PM »
Bu$h
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