John Yoo wrote an editorial in the fascist propaganda pages of the Wall Street Journal today, in which he signalled Bush's plans for defying the Constitution.
I won't quote it, because I'd have to read it again, and it's full of lies (like claiming that no crimes have been uncovered, ignoring the Hatch Act violations; and claiming that no malicious prosecutions by the DOJ against Democrats, or malicious shutdowns of prosecutions against Republicans, have been identified, when we've specifically identified several of earch).
The essential elements in Bush's plan are:
- He will claim executive privilege over everything.
- He will claim that Congress has no right to issue subpoenas regarding any of these matters.b
Notably Yoo concedes that Congress has the right to issue subpoenas in the course of Congress's own powers. He just doesn't think Congress has very many powers.
Now, this brings us back to an earlier diary of mine:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Impeachement is an undeniable power of the House of Representatives. In the course of impeachment hearings -- before the actual impeachment is passed by the full House -- the House has the absolute, uncontested right to subpoena any information necessary to determine whether impeachment is appropriate. And most likely has the right to subpoena any information which could help in the prosecution in the Senate (the House essentially acts as prosecutor in an impeachment trial).
In another context, Bush's claims that subpoenas are invalid may get a long, tedious hearing.
In the context of impeachment hearings, any claims that the subpoenas are invalid will be laughed out of court.