John Dean made some predictions Tuesday about Bush advisor Karl Rove's request for a White House opinion regarding whether he can still claim executive privilege to avoid giving Congressional testimony. Rove has been newly subpoenaed by Congressman John Conyers to appear before the Judiciary Committee to testify regarding the DOJ's US Attorneys scandal.
Rove ignored earlier subpoenas with impunity when Bush was still president. He has asked the Obama White House to give a legal opinion on whether they feel he is still covered by executive privilege. Many believe the White House will weigh in within days, prior to February 2 when Rove has been asked to testify on Capitol Hill. Appearing on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," Dean cited historical precedent indicating that only an ex-president himself has been protected in the past by the executive privilege claim after leaving office -- not a president's aides or advisors -- and Dean predicted that any forthcoming response from the Obama White House probably would provide "not a lot of help for Rove."
Historically, Dean explained, a refusal to appear when subpoenaed by Congress typically meant an eventual appearance instead before a Grand Jury.
Besides the new subpoena for Rove, Dean also pointed out there are ongoing court cases involving the similar executive privilege claims made by Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten.
He described this opportunity to address the legal issues surrounding executive privilege as "Obama's chance to indeed get back to the law" and a time to "start repairing that broken government." On the other hand, if Obama supports Rove's claim, it will signal his administration's unwillingness to allow extensive investigations into Bush era conduct.
Referring to all three cases, Dean predicted, "We'll know in February."
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/571
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