Congress Demands Rove Testimony on Attorney Firings

By Paul Kane
Washingtonpost.com

Congressional committees are now demanding the testimony of President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, in the burgeoning investigation into the reasons behind the unusual firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has helped lead the Senate Judiciary Committee's examination of the dismissals of the federal prosecutors, cited new reports connecting Rove to those who wanted to oust at least one of the U.S. attorneys.

"There's an emerging pattern that is extremely disturbing and everyday the sanctity of U.S. Attorneys as neutral enforcers of law without fear or favor is diminished," Schumer said. "We will get to bottom of this."

The House Judiciary Committee is also requesting testimony from Rove as well, but it's unclear whether either of the panels will actually subpoena his appearance before the committees. Unlike Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose agency is directly overseen by the judiciary panels and can easily be compelled to testify in Congress because of the large sway they hold over his agency, Rove has no Capitol Hill committee with direct oversight of his work.

Rove allegedly spoke with the chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party in late 2005 about the performance of then-U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias, with the local official urging his ouster because of the pace of investigations into local Democrats.

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