With Apologies to all. Sorry this is going to be fast and loose as I am at my part time job. Please forgive me for lack of personal detail here. Busy day in Madland.
According to Rawstory:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to hold two top aides to President Bush in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate in its probe of fired federal prosecutors.
On a largely party-line vote of 11-7, the Democratic-led panel sent contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to the full Senate for consideration.
As with many of Bush's battles with the Democratic-led Senate, the president may ultimately prevail since his fellow Republicans may be able to block the citations with a procedural hurdle.
http://rawstory.com/...
So now it goes to the full Senate! Let's hope the Shrinking Violets hear from all of us and make sure these criminals are held responsible!
Update 1:
How to conact your Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/...
Update 2
from Politico:
http//www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1207/Senate_Judiciary_approves_contempt_resolutions_against_Ro
ve_Bolten.html
Arlen came over from the dark side:
The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved contempt resolutions against Karl Rove, the former top aide to President Bush, and Joshua Bolten, the current White House chief of staff. The vote was 12-8.
The criminal contempt resolutions now move to the Senate floor, although no action on them is expected until next year.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), ranking member of Judiciary, voted in favor of issuing the contempt resolutions, saying the committee's oversight responsibilities must be upheld.
Update 3
Leahy "Problem"
The White House just showed a few cards they have been saving up. Princess Dana just retorted with the following:
White House officials dismissed the Judiciary Committee vote as a political stunt, and they pointed out that Leahy had stated that the Justice Department under former President Clinton would not pursue criminal contempt citations against White House officials when it occurred back in 1999. The Justice Department has stated that it will not allow the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeffrey Taylor, to pursue this case in court. Taylor would normally represent Congress in any legal battle with the White House.
Dana goes on to say:
Perino added:"Senator Leahy may have summed it best in September 1999 when he said the following:
'The criminal contempt mechanism, see 2 U.S.C. section 192, which punishes as a misdemeanor a refusal to testify or produce documents to Congress, requires a referral to the Justice Department, which is not likely to pursue compliance in the likely event that the President asserts executive privilege in response to the request for certain documents or testimony.'"
So that is the game they are going with. I think if we don't forget about this and make some noise they will be held accountable. They will not do a damn thing unless we continue to hold their collective feet to the fire.
Are you all "in"?
Last Update:
The Huffington Post reports:
The Senate Judiciary Committee vote means that contempt citations against Bush administration officials await floor action in both chambers of Congress.
It's not clear they will advance any further.
Even if the citations receive floor votes, the issue likely would land in federal courts in a drawn-out constitutional showdown over what White House information should be made available for congressional oversight.
Any court proceedings would almost certainly survive the Bush administration.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
So this means we are back to Nancy and Harry. I do not have much hope for them to do the right thing. That does not mean we should become complacent and not hound the hell out of them. They need to hear from us.
Maybe if their plan for installing the next Democratic President does not go their way due to upsets in the first couple of primaries, maybe Nancy & Harry will actually do something that they should have done all along. Take their oath seriously.