Subpoenas and Contempt Charges
inally! Contempt of Congress charges filed! OMG, they’re actually doing something! 
Congress had issued subpoenas for Joshua Bolten and Harriet Meiers, to appear and give testimony concerning the Alberto Gonzales/firing US Attorneys/Justice Dept issues. The White House claimed that Bolten and Meiers didn’t have to testify due to Executive Privilege. Congress has just filed contempt charges over the issue — charges which come with a $100,000 fine and a year in prison.
”If we countenance a process where our subpoenas can be readily ignored, where a witness under a duly authorized subpoena doesn’t even have to bother to show up, where privilege can be asserted on the thinnest basis and in the broadest possible manner, then we have already lost,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Democrat said. “We won’t be able to get anybody in front of this committee or any other.”
Republicans said Democrats could not win this fight, noting the White House has offered to make top presidential aides available for private interviews about their roles in the firings. Republicans also suggested that the Democrats’ rejection of the offer leaves only one reason for the dispute: politics.
”If the majority really wanted the facts, it could have had them,” said Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican.
I’ll tell you why “politics” is not the issue here. Yes, private meetings behind closed doors were offered — as they are always offered by this administration. “Sure, sure,” they say, “We’ll talk to you. Behind closed doors. Off the records. With no transcripts.” Why all the secrecy over this issue? No national security secrets are going to be revealed by asking these two people if they were involved or had information about the US Attorney firings in the DoJ. We’re not asking about al Qaida, we’re asking about why several US Attorneys, who were refusing to use their office to dog Democrats (among other things), were suddenly fired and/or made to resign for no apparent reason.
If this Administration, and the DoJ by extension, really weren’t doing anything wrong in firing these Attorneys, then why are they so loathe to go under oath and on the record about it? You don’t fight like this unless you’ve done something wrong.
Now, there is a certain argument to be made about protecting Executive Privilege, but in this instance, under the context of this administration, I’m not buying that argument. This administration has been known to lie, without shame, to further its goals and cover up its activities. We’ve caught them at it repeatedly. The President himself has said, in a national press conference, “Yes, I lied about things.” I heard it with my own ears, live on TV. We know these people are liars, and we know they’re telling lies about things which, if brought to light, would get them in serious trouble. Therefore, the refusal to allow staff members to testify under oath and in the public view about the DoJ firings must be viewed as the actions of criminals covering up their crimes.
If, after all this cock-testing and arguing, the administration lets these two testify, and there is nothing to hide, the Democrats would then have egg on their faces, and, since there is no national security risk in letting them do so, then logic dictates that the only reason why the White House would be opposing these subpoenas so strenuously is because there is something to hide. Where there is smoke, ladies and gentlemen, there is fire.
