Friday, May 23, 2008

Ex-Bush adviser Rove must testify in case that could shame White House

It would appear that John Conyers has tired of trying to persuade Karl Rove to testify in the case looking into whether or not the US government politicised the firing of nine US attorneys during 2006, in a case which eventually led to the resignation of Alberto Gonzales.

Rove has resisted coming forward voluntarily and will now be compelled to give evidence.

"This will make Watergate look like child's play when it is fully investigated," Mr Siegelman told an Alabama newspaper last week, referring to his case and the dismissal of the prosecutors. He has repeatedly insisted that the White House, and Mr Rove in particular, was behind his legal woes.

Mr Conyers said he had no choice but to order Mr Rove to appear on Capitol Hill and testify under oath on 10 July. The scandal could prove embarrassing for media organisations who have recently hired Mr Rove as a political commentator, including Fox News and Newsweek.

"It is unfortunate that Mr Rove has failed to co-operate with our requests," Mr Conyers said. "Although he does not seem the least bit hesitant to discuss these very issues weekly on cable television and in the print news media, Mr Rove and his attorney have apparently concluded that a public hearing room would not be appropriate. Unfortunately, I have no choice today but to compel his testimony on these very important matters."

Gonzales's recollection, or rather his inability to recall anything of any import, eventually led to his downfall, and now Rove will be forced - hopefully - to give us his memory of what took place before those nine US Attorney's were fired.

Of course, I am sure this administration of lying liars will do everything in their power to stop Rove from having to testify. After all they have already claimed, with a straight face, to have "lost" four years worth of emails relating to the firing of these Attorneys.

We can expect plenty more obfuscation before they will allow Karl Rove to be required to place his hand on a bible and account for what actually took place here.

After all, he's not going to run the risk of committing perjury defending the actions of an administration that he is no longer a part of.

"I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done," Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona, said at the time.

Asked about Mr Rove's reluctance to testify, Mr Siegelman said: "He doesn't want to run the risk of lying under oath and being prosecuted for perjury. I think it's clear he has something to hide."

I think he has a lot to hide and am amazed that it's only now coming the subpoena stage. I wish the Democrats had pushed this a lot harder and a lot sooner.

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