My fellow Vermonters - we need to be calling Senator Leahy to tell him to reject Ted Olson if nominated as attorney general. Kagro X over at The Next Hurrah has a terrific piece detailing why Olson would be a disaster for the enforcement of subpoenas and for checks and balances, as required per our Constition.
My open letter to Senator Leahy is after the jump...climb on board after you've read it and call Senator Leahy's office.
Washington: 202-224-4242
Burlington: 800-642-3193 (toll free for Vermonters)
Montpelier: 8/02-229-0569
Senator Leahy,
Since the Democrats regained Congress in January 2007, you have aggressively investigated numerous activities within the Executive Branch. These investigations, which are fully consistent with your Constitutionally required responsibilities, have stalled due to the Executive Branch’s lack of response to subpoenas issued by your office. The American people must understand how the Executive Branch has corrupted the judicial department, and the only way to get answers is to hold people accountable. That means bringing charges when evidence of crimes is uncovered. However, bringing charges is extremely unlikely, as the Executive Branch has stated that the U.S. Department of Justice would not enforce actions taken by Congress. And now there are indications that Ted Olson will be nominated as the next Attorney General. You must block this nomination if we are to re-establish Constitutionally mandated checks and balances.
Ted Olson does not believe in checks and balances. He is a leading proponent of the unitary executive theory and would surely not respect Congressional authority. You see, in 1984, Ted Olson wrote a memorandum that outlined the Reagan Administration’s strategy for instructing the Justice Department to refuse to prosecute EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch for contempt of Congress. Ted Olson would most certainly follow this strategy again, and then that would leave you with only one option for enforcing the subpoenas: inherent contempt. And inherent contempt would definitely be filibustered by the Republicans, and I just can’t see where you’d peel off enough Republicans to get 60 votes to defeat the filibuster.
Senator Leahy, I implore you to block Ted Olson if he is nominated for the Attorney General Post.