In 2001, the Bush Administration changed the policy requiring Judicial nominees "at any level" to submit their tax returns. Before then, they had to provide their three most recent returns. Now, the IRS will just put together a single page for Roberts.
The Washington Post has described it as
a break with precedent that could exacerbate a growing conflict over document disclosure in the confirmation process.
More below the fold...
What's more surprising from this article was not that many Democrats were unaware of this policy change, which went unannounced by the Administration, but this bizarre statement by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa in response to a request by Senate Dems that he use his power as Finance Committee Chairman to obtain the records:
"From the standpoint of taxes for justices, I don't know that that has ever been done before"
It's almost as strange as Orrin Hatch's proclamation that 'John Boy' Roberts didn't have to answer any questions regarding any matter that might come before the Supreme Court. Thanks for narrowing that down, Orrin.
But perhaps it would be prudent for the Administration to reconsider the current strategy to push through their nominee. Afterall, when your credibility is taking hits from the Plame Affair and it grows increasingly apparent that someone in your administration is lying, it might give the wrong impression to insist upon hiding John Roberts' records and papers away from public scrutiny. As this Washington Post article points out, even Chief Justice Rehnquist had to answer questions in his 1971 confrimation hearings regarding a controversial memo he wrote supporting school segregation some twenty years earlier.
It just might look like your trying to hide something...If the President persists down this path of extreme secrecy, he may just undermine his own nominee.
When you've been caught lying( and they've got them again in the Plame Affair with the revelation that Plame was covert), sometimes it's just better to be quiet and answer the questions you're asked.
With the growing credibility problem this President has as a result of the Plame Affair, the cover-up of administration-sanctioned abuse at Abu Ghraib, the revelations of the Downing Street Minutes and the growing scandals involving Republicans in Texas, California and Ohio, this President cannot afford to give the American people any more reasons not to trust him.
The key to a fair and dignified process is not the conduct of the Minority Party during this confirmation process, but rather the ability of Mr. Bush and Mr. Roberts to be forthcoming and come out from behind the thin facade of obfuscation and secrecy. It is also time for the Republican leaders to accept that "advice & consent" can only occur after careful deliberation and consideration..
Leave the Cloak & Daggers game to professionals, like Valerie Plame...and answer the damn questions. Then again, maybe you do have something to hide afterall.