Rove Subpoenaed Again

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, May 23, 2008

The House Judiciary Committee yesterday sent former White House political guru Karl Rove a new subpoena to add to his document collection. It makes a matching pair with the subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee that he's been ignoring since last August.

Both relate to investigations of Rove's role in the politicization of the Justice Department and the possibly politically-motivated firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The House investigation is particularly focused on allegations of selective prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. And because Rove -- now a celebrated pundit and columnist -- has been so outspoken in denying any involvement with the Siegelman case, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers argues that Rove's refusal to appear at a public hearing and testify under oath is particularly inappropriate.

But there seems little doubt that Conyers will run into the same wall that has thwarted his Senate colleagues. The day Rove was supposed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he didn't bother to show up. And the White House made the extraordinary claim that he has absolute immunity from congressional oversight. As I wrote in my Aug. 2 column, Karl Rove's Immunity, the law does not appear to support anywhere near such a broad assertion. Traditionally, courts have recognized that the president's right to confidentiality must be balanced against Congress's legitimate oversight needs. But no matter. The White House asserted it -- and the Senate folded.

(Continued here.)