Obama order could present problems for Rove

[MiaCulpa]

Source: Raw Story - John Byrne

A little-noticed twist in an order issued by President Barack Obama the day after his inauguration may present problems for former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and other Bush Administration officials that have been targeted for their alleged role in various scandals.

Rove was subpoenaed Monday afternoon by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI). When the dogged Democrat subpoenaed him last year, Bush Administration lawyers invoked "executive immunity" to prevent Rove from testifying.

This year, however, George W. Bush is no longer in the president's chair. Determination of executive privilege must now also be examined by President Obama's lawyers. In fact, Rove's lawyer made direct reference to Obama's role in any future decision to enjoin Rove's appearance on the congressional witness stand Monday night...



Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_order_could_present_problems_for_0127.html

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Full article at the link.

-Diane

[Catshrink]

1. Elections have consequences.

:rofl:

[salguine]

2. *snort* That remains to be seen.

[IsItJustMe]

3. You are right. That does remain to be seen. Should I hold my breath?

[salguine]

5. I wouldn't. Rove will probably do this:

and everyone will look at each other and shrug and say, "He's foiled us again."

[Imagevision]

4. gotta stay on top of Rove showing up in court - Bush can't hold his hand any longer...

[bleever]

6. Karl is working hard on financing his upcoming legal fees.

I'd wish him luck, but since the dunce he foisted on us has put my potential grandchildren in debt: not so much.

[Optical.Catalyst]

13. Pasty skinned Karl will turn State's Evidence and stab his comrades in the back

Karl will walk free after sending his friends into the legal buzz saw, write a book, and die a wealthy man.

At least until he faces the perjury charges.

[orleans]

7. i thought i heard olbermann say

rove & lawyers are asking obama to give him executive privilege--john dean was on talking about it

[Hippo_Tron]

8. Executive privilege exists to protect national security and other sensitive matters

Politicization of the Justice Department isn't one of those sensitive matters even if Rove thinks it is. Obama said there most likely won't be prosecutions. He didn't say anything about no hearings and no subpoenas, though.

[No Elephants]

9. I thought Executive Privilege is to protect the ability of the Prez and advisors to

speak freely to each other, without fear of testifying against each other later, along the lines of attorney client privilege and spousal privilege. However, it is greatest and clearest when national security is implicated.

We have Eisenhower to think for the broadening of the doctrine. Perhaps the one person who could have nipped McCarthy early on, Ike chose instead to broaden executive privilege to protect himself and his people from McCarthy, while allowing McCarthy to go otherwise unchecked. And we've had to live with Executive Privilege ever since.

[No Elephants]

10. A double wide could pass easily through the loopholes. From the article:

On the flip side, Vice President Dick Cheney recently won a court case seeking his vice presidential records; the court said that the Vice President alone gets to make the determination as to which records are personal and which records should become public. The Presidential Records Act, which requires Administrations to surrender their files to the National Archives upon leaving office, provides an exemption for records of a personal nature.

Obama might also effectively protect Rove and President Bush by retaining a broad interpretation of executive privilege. Such an interpretation wouldn't be designed to save Rove from congressional investigators -- instead, it would allow Obama to protect himself and his team upon his own departure from the Oval Office.

[CollegeStudent01]

11. Like that will ever happen

Only Bush would've done that for Rove.

[pjt7]

12. Accountability

will make America great again.