During John Roberts’ confirmation process, there was a minor skirmish over releasing his documents and memoranda from his service in the solicitor general’s (during H.W. Bush’s term) and his Reagan-era work as an aide to Attorney General William French Smith and as an aide to White House counsel Fred Fielding. Dems wanted more, the Bush White House gave less, and there wasn’t much anyone could do about it.
The situation with Harriet Miers is proving to be far different. For one thing, Dems aren’t the only ones arguing that the release of pertinent documents is necessary.
Republican and Democratic senators called on President Bush on Sunday to release documents relating to Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers’ service as White House counsel, with some warning that she might not win confirmation otherwise.
In discussions on television talk shows, senators of both parties said the biggest obstacle to Miers’ confirmation was a lack of information about her capabilities.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), ordinarily a Bush ally but also a social conservative who is expected to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, warned that the Senate “is not a rubber stamp.”
“If we’re to give advice and consent, we’ve got to have a full picture,” Brownback said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
The bi-partisan list of senators who want “a full picture” is growing. Among Republicans, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Brownback are leading the call for the White House to turn over internal documents. Among Dems, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) is saying the same thing.
The president is rejecting their demands. It may be the inkling of an exit strategy.
President Bush said Monday that he will not release any records of his conversations with Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers that could threaten the confidentiality of the advice that presidents get from their lawyers.
“It’s a red line I’m not willing to cross,” Bush said.
See where this is going? Republicans say they need the documents, Bush says they’re off-limits. All of a sudden, Miers’ nomination has to be pulled, not because she’s an unqualified crony with a questionable background, but because of a deeply held belief in principle that both the Senate and the White House can’t compromise on.
As Charles Krauthammer put it, “Miers withdraws out of respect for both the Senate and the executive’s prerogatives, the Senate expresses appreciation for this gracious acknowledgment of its needs and responsibilities, and the White House accepts her decision with the deepest regret and with gratitude for Miers’s putting preservation of executive prerogative above personal ambition.”
It is, in other words, a way out that saves face. Sounds to me like we have a winner.