Judiciary Chairman Leahy Issues Subpoenas To White House Officials Rove And Jennings In U.S. Attorney Probe Judiciary Panel Compels White House Political Operatives Karl Rove And J. Scott Jennings To Provide Testimony And Information In Connection With Investigations Of U.S. Attorney Firings And Politicization Within Dept. Of Justice
WASHINGTON (Thursday, July 26) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), in consultation with Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), issued subpoenas Thursday compelling White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and Deputy Director White House Political Affairs J. Scott Jennings to provide testimony and related information as part of ongoing congressional investigations into the mass firings of federal prosecutors and politicization of hiring and firing within the Department of Justice.
Rove, a senior political advisor to President Bush, and the White House political operation -- which Rove heads – have been linked to the project that resulted in the unprecedented firings of several well-performing federal prosecutors, according to information gathered by the Committee through documents, interviews and testimony. Jennings, who works in the White House political office as a deputy to Rove, has also been linked to the project. Several of the dismissed prosecutors have testified under oath and in public statements that they were unaware of performance problems and believe political influence was a factor in their firings.
“The evidence shows that senior White House political operatives were focused on the political impact of federal prosecutions and whether federal prosecutors were doing enough to bring partisan voter fraud and corruption cases. It is obvious that the reasons given for the firings of these prosecutors were contrived as part of a cover up and that the stonewalling by the White House is part and parcel of that same effort,” Leahy said. “The Bush-Cheney White House continues to place great strains on our constitutional system of checks and balances. Not since the darkest days of the Nixon Administration have we seen efforts to corrupt federal law enforcement for partisan political gain and such efforts to avoid accountability.”
“There is a cloud over this White House and a gathering storm. I hope they will reconsider their course and end their cover up so that we can move forward together to repair the damage done to the Department of Justice and to the American people’s trust and confidence in federal law enforcement,” he said.
The deadline for the testimony and documents is August 2 at 10 a.m.