In what can only be seen as an unexpected show of testicular fortitude, the Democrats have done something! In a 22-17 vote the House Judiciary Committee voted to charge former White House hack Joshua Bilton, and almost Supreme Court Justice (she never had a chance) and questionable legal mind (oh and former White House Counsel) Harriet Miers for contempt of Congress for their failure to comply with subpoenas.

The vote was along party lines, no surprise the republicans have refused to stand up for constitutional democracy for over a decade now, so why start now.

The showdown will begin, because if you will recall, the Justice Department, headed by uber-discredited Alberto Gonzales, has stated that the Attorney General for the District of Columbia does not have to execute the charges laid out by Congress, which has basically destroyed the creditability of the Justice Department as a neutral arbiter of the law, and laid waste to the idea of checks and balances.

The question every American should be asking is, “If, as they claim they have nothing to hide, then why are they hiding SO MUCH?”

RIP USA

Oh the shit is about to hit the fan, the subpoenas are in the mail.

From RawStory

In a meeting considering the issuing of a series of subpoenas from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday, the chairman said he had hit a 'brick wall' in dealings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"We have hit a brick wall with the Secretary of State," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). "She will not propose a date to testify, she will not agree to testify, and she insists that our Committee be satisfied with partial information that was previously submitted to other committees."

Waxman's remark came in a fractious hearing on issuing three subpoenas. One sought Rice's testimony on May 15 concerning the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq. The other two concerned the deletion of e-mails on accounts supplied the Republican National Committee and used by White House employees, as well as RNC documents concerning the use of the General Services Administration to assist Republican political efforts.

All three subpoenas were agreed to by the Committee. Waxman attempted to show that his willingness to have a hearing with votes was a new direction for the Oversight Committee.

"Under the rules of this Committee, the Chairman has the power to issue subpoenas without debate or votes in the Committee. That is what Dan Burton used to do. In fact, that is what he did over 1,000 times," he said. "But I am taking a different approach today. I believe the entire Committee should have a chance to participate in the subpoenas we will consider today."

The democratically lead House, via the House Judiciary Committee has just subpoenaed Alberto “I like Torture” Gonzales to hand over the documents the committee has requested. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in the letter than followed the subpoenas “I look forward to your timely compliance so that we can proceed with getting to the truth”

What now Alberto? You had your chance to comply and still cover some of your ass, but you stalled, and now we want to see it all!

From the Reuters, via the Washington Post

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales received a subpoena on Tuesday from a U.S. congressional panel for documents related to the firing of federal prosecutors, a controversy that has prompted calls for his resignation.

"I look forward to your timely compliance so that we can proceed with getting to the truth," Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter to Gonzales that accompanied the subpoena.

The House of Representatives and the Senate are investigating the Bush administration's dismissal last year of the eight U.S. attorneys.

While the administration has insisted the firings were justified, Republican and Democratic critics question if the dismissals were politically motivated.

Gonzales, who with President George W. Bush's public support has rejected calls to resign, is to appear next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which plans to authorize subpoenas of its own on Thursday for administration documents.

 

I was in the car on the way home so I listened to our “President” in his “I am King, you are not allowed to ask me or my people anything” speech. As I was hearing the speech and I kept saying to myself, “Who the hell told him this was a good idea?”

Bush took about 15 mins to basically tell the Democrats that he dares them to ask questions. What is perplexing is that in one breath he says that he and his advisers have done nothing wrong, yet in the very next breath exclaims that he will not allow advisers to testify under oath, or with a transcript, and in fact the full committee cannot even be present. It begs the question, if was so aboveboard, and why the paranoia and secrecy? Seriously folks it is almost comical how out of place each and every sentence was his speech. The credibility of this administration is nill, to go on television and tell the American people that everything is okay and that we should “trust him” is absurd.

The Republicans in the House and Senate who will soon stand for reelection must have buried their heads in their hands with embarrassment, and it was only because I was driving that I did not do the same.

Fortunately for the American people it looks like the Democrats are going to call his bluff. Senator Leahy has already rejected the terms the Bush administration set out. Further it looks like Bush has only stirred the hornets nest because Senator Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee called a meeting this evening to discuss their own subpoenas of White House officials.

Bush’s logic is the constitution allows him and those that work for him to literally commit murder and no one from the other branches of government should be allowed to investigate. Using this logic Karl Rove could literally drink 10 bottles of vodka, get into a car, and drive it through a crowd of people, killing 200, and the police would have no right to arrest, him nor the judiciary a right to try him, or the Congress to even question him because of the separation of powers clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Repeatedly Bush said, “separation of powers”, but in fact the Republicans strategy to ride Clinton’s acts for the better part of six years may have backfired on them because on no less than 47 occasions did White House officials testify in front of in the Republican-led Congress.

ThinkProgress has done a great job debunking this Bush talking point

But in reality, there is no such precedent. According to the Congressional Research Service, under President Clinton, 31 of his top aides testified on 47 different occasions. The aides who testified included some of Clinton’s closest advisors:

Harold Ickes, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff - 7/28/94

George Stephanopoulos, Senior Adviser to the President for Policy and Strategy - 8/4/94

John Podesta, Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary - 8/5/94

Bruce R. Lindsey, Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President - 1/16/96

Samuel Berger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs - 9/11/97

Beth Nolan, Counsel to the President - 5/4/00

In contrast, between 2000 and 2004, Bush allowed only one of his closest advisers, then-Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Tom Ridge, to appear in front of Congress. He has also refused three invitations from Congress for his aides to testify, a first since President Richard Nixon in 1972. Clinton did not refuse any.