Beyond Gonzales: Scrutiny in US attorneys case may shift to Bush staff

The White House could become the new target in the controversy surrounding the dismissal of federal prosecutors.

from the June 13, 2007 edition

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Congress is also likely to look at other Justice issues.

The department's own inspector general is looking at whether officials wrongly considered the party affiliation of candidates for career jobs there, Democrats point out. Many lawmakers wish to look further at the possible role of Gonzales – while he was White House counsel – in pressuring an ill Attorney General John Ashcroft to reauthorize the administration's warrantless wiretapping efforts.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont and ranking minority member Sen. Specter for months have tried to get the administration to release its legal justification for the warrantless wiretapping program.

The Bush administration has yet to respond.

"This Justice Department's refusal to provide the material requested by the committee is unacceptable and shows, yet again, its disdain for any kind of constitutional oversight of its activities," said Sen. Leahy in a statement released June 8.

Members of Congress also want to talk to White House officials such as former counsel Harriet Miers and current political advisor Karl Rove about their knowledge of the process that ended with the firing of US attorneys.

Democrats want to know if there were political reasons for why the White House wanted the attorneys out. While US attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president, the Justice Department's own doctrine holds that they should be independent in regard to prosecutorial decisions.

Yet generations of US chief executives have invoked the concept of executive privilege to resist subpoenas and other legal requests from Congress. Litigation over the issue could stall inquiry for months – possibly even until the end of the Bush administration.

Last week, the administration announced the hiring of nine new lawyers for the White House counsel's office, points out Prof. Tobias at the University of Richmond.

"I think they are gearing up for a fight. We'll see where this goes," he says.

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