Leahy, Specter Issue Bipartisan Demand For Justice Department Documents

. . . DOJ Has Ignored Subpoena; Senators Give Officials
Until The End Of The Week To Respond

WASHINGTON (Wednesday, May 16) -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) have demanded the Department of Justice by the end of the week turn over documents compelled by the Committee as part of a subpoena issued relating to the ongoing investigation into the firings and replacements of U.S. Attorneys.

The two leading members of the panel sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales late Tuesday after the Justice Department failed to comply with a subpoena Chairman Leahy issued earlier this month.  The subpoena compelled the Department to turn over all Karl Rove e-mails in its possession related to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the mass firings of federal prosecutors.  

A senior political advisor to President Bush, and the head of the White House political operation, Rove has been linked to the project that resulted in the unprecedented firings of several well-performing federal prosecutors, according to information gathered by the Committee through documents, interviews and testimony.  Several of the dismissed prosecutors have testified under oath and said in public that they were unaware of performance problems and believe political influence was a factor in their firings.   

Leahy requested the e-mails first at the Committee’s oversight hearing with the Attorney General on April 19, 2007, and then again in a letter to the Attorney General on April 25, 2007.   The Attorney General has failed to respond to those earlier requests.

“You ignored the subpoena, did not come forward today, did not produce the documents and did not even offer an explanation for your noncompliance,” the senators wrote.  “Your action today is in defiance of the Committee’s subpoena without explanation of any legal basis for doing so.”

Leahy and Specter set a deadline of 10 a.m. Friday, May 18, for a response.   

“The Committee intends to get to the truth,” they wrote.

The text of the letter is below.  A PDF is also available.

 

May 15, 2007

The Honorable Alberto Gonzales
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Gonzales:

You did not appear before the Committee or produce any documents and you have provided no explanation for your failure to do so.  Today at 2 p.m. was the return date and time for you to appear before the Committee and bring with you the documents compelled by the Judiciary Committee’s May 2 subpoena. 

Please provide the documents compelled by the subpoena to the Committee immediately and without further delay.  You should at least have provided in writing the specific reasons for not producing any responsive documents, including any objections to the subpoena or privileges claimed by the Department.  You failed in that obligation, as well.  If you have anything to offer in these regards please do so by May 18 at 10 a.m.

You have twice before been asked to provide these documents without being compelled by a congressional subpoena.  First when you appeared before the Committee last month and then by letter dated April 25.  

On May 2, acting under the Committee’s April 12 authorization and after consultation, the Chairman issued a subpoena compelling you by today at 2 p.m. to produce all of Mr. Rove’s e-mails in the Department’s possession related to the Committee’s investigation, including those obtained by Mr. Fitzgerald.  The subpoena requires you to produce any White House account, Republican National Committee account, or other account, in the possession, custody or control of the Department of Justice.  It also calls for you to appear before us unless you produced the required documents to the Committee prior to the return date and time. 

You ignored the subpoena, did not come forward today, did not produce the documents and did not even offer an explanation for your noncompliance.  Your action today is in defiance of the Committee’s subpoena without explanation of any legal basis for doing so. 

Please provide the information requested by May 18 at 10 a.m., so that the Chairman and the Committee can assess any objections to the subpoena or privileges claimed by the Department.  The Committee intends to get to the truth.

Sincerely,

 

PATRICK LEAHY                                                      ARLEN SPECTER     
Chairman                                                                      Ranking Member

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