White House, Cheney’s office, subpoenaed in warrantless-search investigation

June 27, 2007

A few days ago, commenter bjobotts asked, “Now that the [Senate Judiciary Committee] has agreed they can issue subpoenas, how long will it be before they actually do?”

Wait no longer.

The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush’s warrant-free eavesdropping program.

Also named in subpoenas signed by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were the Justice Department and the National Security Council.

The committee wants documents that might shed light on internal squabbles within the administration over the legality of the program, said a congressional official speaking on condition of anonymity because the subpoenas had not been made public.

The AP noted that former Deputy Attorney General James Comey “piqued” lawmakers’ interest with startling testimony last month that reignited interest in Bush’s warrantless wiretap program and added key details — such as the fact that he and dozens of other Justice Department officials were so convinced of the program’s illegality that they were prepared to resign over it. That’s true; without Comey, today’s subpoenas probably wouldn’t have happened.

Atrios added that WH spokesperson Dana Perino expressed regret that Dems have chosen “confrontation.” Please. The White House intentionally broke the law and now refuses to answer questions about it. “Confrontation”? Try “accountability.”

Regardless, we can expect one heck of a legal fight.

The White House will, of course, claim executive privilege (does executive privilege extent to Cheney if he’s not in the executive branch?) and insist that internal deliberations between the president and his aides have to remain private.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy is already addressing the argument.

“Over the past 18 months, this Committee has made no fewer than nine formal requests to the Department of Justice and to the White House, seeking information and documents about the authorization of and legal justification for this program,” Chairman Leahy wrote in letters accompanying the subpoenas to Bush Administration officials. “All requests have been rebuffed. Our attempts to obtain information through testimony of Administration witnesses have been met with a consistent pattern of evasion and misdirection.”

“There is no legitimate argument for withholding the requested materials from this Committee,” Leahy wrote. “The Administration cannot thwart the Congress’s conduct of its constitutional duties with sweeping assertions of secrecy and privilege. The Committee seeks no intimate operational facts and we are willing to accommodate legitimate redactions of the documents we seek to eliminate reference to these details.”

Sounds right to me.

One last thing: the White House is already characterizing this as some kind of partisan matter. It’s worth remembering, then, that last week’s vote authorizing these subpoenas was 13 to 3 — with multiple Republican votes.

Patrick Leahy was Chittenden County State’s Attorney from 1966 to 1974. He knows how to prosecute.

  • “The Administration cannot thwart the Congress’s conduct of its constitutional duties with sweeping assertions of secrecy and privilege. “

    Oh yeah? Prove it.

  • Coming on the heels of the 4rth branch nonsense, there should be strong public support to get these clowns on record. Dems have no reason to not batter them til they comply. There’s blood in the water. Set loose the sharks.

  • WH spokesperson Dana Perino expressed regret that Dems have chosen “confrontation.”

    As several people have noted, when ever the unwashed masses (anyone not a ReThuglican) gets in the way it is confrontational. In the same way outspoken minorities are “uppity,” “aggressive,” and even “outside agitators.”

    Dick is probably cursing the terrorist legislative branch as I type.

  • …with Comey, today’s subpoenas probably wouldn’t have happened…

    I think you meant to say “without Comey”.

    And that’s probably true, and it’s also depressing. Comey’s testimony, while explosive, came WAY after the illegality of the wiretap program was patently obvious.

    Dems should have issued subpoenas immediately upon getting the ability to do so, almost six months ago.

  • I’ll believe the tough talk when I see some actions to back it up. One big difference between the Dems and the Republicans is that the GOP, for good or bad, better or worse, has absolutely no problem whatsoever using the levers of government given to it by its relative station or stations in office. Whether the issue is small or large, important or trivial, the GOP will use all tools available to them to get what they want, and push matters to the bitter end to get it. Not that I am saying the Dems should push to the bitter end in all cases, but someplace near there would be nice once in a while. I want to believe in them. I’m willing to believe in them. I’m waiting to believe in them.

  • slowly and methodically, bit by bit, build your case. that’s how leahy has always worked. and he gets his man. it’s frustrating sometimes, but we’re on the right road.

    thanks again pat.

  • If only the committee chairs would come out and explain that the fact that this is a Democratic-majority Congress investigating the actions and policies of a Republican administration does not make it partisan. What it means is that the Congress is exercising constitutionally mandated oversight, which is integral to the checks-and-balances system that provides the accountability and transparency that protect and preserve the democracy.

    In seeking information and documentation, as well as the testimony of those involved, the Congress is attempting to answer the questions of whether the laws and rules and constitutional principles have been upheld, what the limits of power in the executive branch are, and whether those limits have been exceeded. The final determination may ultimately rest with the courts, but it is important to make sure we know where the lines are going forward. This administration will not be the last administration this country has, and without an understanding of what the limits are, and without knowing the agenda of future administrations, it is a necessary part of fine-tuning the democracy. That’s not partisan – it’s patriotic.

  • “that’s how leahy has always worked. and he gets his man.”

    Can you cite to one man or woman in the past 7 years that Leahy has “gotten?”

  • 1…Defund OVP until all pertinent documents are made public. No redactions; no deletions; no revisions or annotations.

    2…If defunding OVP doesn’t work, then ramp this up a notch, and defund NSC—and, if need be, DoJ.

    3…Come September, defund all operations in Iraq, and circumvent the C-in-C via a Congressional directive to the field commanders in the Iraqi zone: “Commence immediate preparations to withdraw all US forces from Iraq.” Congress can declare—and “undeclare” a war.

    4…If the WH still wants to play hardball after forces in Iraq have been brought home, then remind all members of US general staff—all flag-rank officers—that they took an oath the the Constitution, and the Constitution supercedes the WH.

    America could conceivably be declared “a shrub-free zone” by Christmas.

    And I can’t think of a better gift for the Republic than to drive the neocon hyenas into the sea….

  • Leahy will appear on the Sunday morning talk shows and lay out his case for the subpoenas and oversight. And yes, bubba (comment # 6), the Republicans will act as tough as the rat-fuckers that they are.

  • Question: Would internal deliberations between the President and his advisors—if those “deliberations” involved intent toward circumvention of the Law and the planned commission of multiple felonies for personal/political gain—constitute a violation of RICOH?

  • You covered a lot of ground in this post. I believe that many of the congressional Republicans will come on board in support of these subpoenas letting the chips fall where they may. Most want to know what was being done that Ashcroft, Comey and others at the DoJ were ready to resign over.
    I wonder too if the actual subject matter of the hospital confrontation will ever be made public. So far it’s been, “I cannot discuss that program” which makes us all paranoid.

    Glenn Greenwald, who has some background in constitutional law, claimed in an Air America Radio interview that the WH will not comply and it will come down to the Senate having to have the courts force them to comply and that they can be prosecuted for criminal behavior other than having to impeach them.
    But you are right that if it had not been for Comey’s testimony there would be no subpoenas. The DoJ with Gonzales will not go against the WH but Comey’s testimony shows how Gonzales was a part of the illegal activity being investigated, making it more difficult for Gonzales to impede progress of this investigation.

    One thing for sure, I and everyone I know had lost patience and faith that any subpoenas would be issued to the WH because the WH has just totally ignored the Senate’s requests for information for so long now that we were thinking that if the Senate hasn’t issued subpoenas by now then….

    At last the Senate committee has had enough of being bullied, mocked and ignored. And as wild as it may seem, these subpoenas may be the very thing that keeps this administration from attacking Iran when coupled with other investigations and the Iraq funding issue. Another thing for sure, the subpoenas are long overdue. (Now Cheney must double his efforts to delete all incriminating evidence)

  • Let’s hope that Congress acting as “we the people” will prevail over the Executive Branch which is acting as “we the neocon coalition of whack jobs and idiots that love to tell the people to go f&*k yourself”.

    We, the people, want our country back.

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