Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The Issuing Of Subpoenas
In The Investigation Of The Firing Of U.S. Attorneys
June 13, 2007 

Today, I am issuing on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenas to the White House in connection with our investigation into the firing of United States Attorneys around the country.  I have spoken recently with Mr. Fielding, the White House Counsel, and consulted with the Ranking Republican on the Committee.  Regrettably, to date the White House has not produced a single document nor allowed White House staff to testify despite our repeated requests for voluntary cooperation over the last several months. 

The White House’s stonewalling of the congressional investigative committees continues its pattern of confrontation over cooperation.  Those who bear the brunt of this approach are the American people, those dedicated professionals at the Department of Justice who have tried to remain committed to effective law enforcement in spite of the untoward political influences from this Administration, and the public’s confidence in our justice system. That is why we must do everything we can to overcome the Administration’s stonewalling and get all the facts out on the table. 

The White House cannot have it both ways -- it cannot stonewall congressional investigations by refusing to provide documents and witnesses and simultaneously claim that nothing improper occurred.  The involvement of the White House’s political operation in these matters, including former Political Director Sara Taylor and her boss Karl Rove, has been confirmed by information gathered by congressional committees. Some at the White House may hope to thwart our constitutional oversight efforts by locking the doors, closing the curtains and hiding under their desks, but we will keep asking until we get to the truth.

The House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Conyers is likewise issuing and serving subpoenas today.  Chairman Conyers makes the point that these subpoenas are not merely requests for information, they are lawful demands on behalf of the American people through their elected representatives in Congress.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is issuing and serving three subpoenas today, two seeking the documents and testimony of Sara M. Taylor, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs, and another seeking White House documents relevant to the panel’s ongoing investigation.  Senator Specter and I had written Ms. Taylor seeking voluntary cooperation on April 11, more than two months ago.

As I noted in my cover letter to the new White House Counsel,  Mr. Fielding, I have sent him a half dozen previous letters during the past three months seeking voluntary cooperation from the White House with the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the mass firings and replacements of U.S. Attorneys and politicization at the Department of Justice.  It is now clear from the evidence gathered by the investigating Committees of the Senate and House that White House officials played a significant role in originating, developing, coordinating and implementing the plan and the Justice Department’s response to congressional inquiries about it.  Yet, to date the White House has not produced a single document or allowed even one White House official involved in these matters to be interviewed.  

It has been two and one-half months since Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected his “take it or leave it” offer of off-the-record, backroom interviews with no follow up as unacceptable.  Despite our numerous efforts to engage and move forward cooperatively, the White House “stayed the course” and refused to furnish information.  Mr. Rove and the President have had no reluctance to comment publicly that there was, in their view, no wrongdoing and nothing improper.  Yet, the White House refuses even to share the basis for those denials and assertions.

Again, the White House cannot have it both ways.  The White House’s continued stonewalling leads to the obvious conclusion that the White House has something to hide.  Because the White House has continued its refusal to provide the requested information to the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voluntary basis, I issued these subpoenas. 

Accordingly, we have formally demanded production of documents in the possession, custody or control of the White House related to the Committee’s investigation into the preservation of prosecutorial independence and the Department of Justice’s politicization of the hiring and firing of United States Attorneys.  The documents compelled by the subpoena include documents related to the Administration’s evaluation  of and decision to dismiss former U.S. Attorneys David Iglesias, H.E. “Bud” Cummins, John McKay, Carol Lam, Daniel Bogden, Paul Charlton, Kevin Ryan, Margaret Chiara, Todd Graves, or any other U.S. Attorney dismissed or considered for dismissal since President Bush’s re-election, the implementation of the dismissal and replacement of the dismissed U.S. Attorneys, and the selection, discussion and evaluation of possible replacements.  Those dismissals have yet to be explained. 

Among these documents are documents related to the involvement of Karl Rove, Harriet E. Miers, William Kelley, J. Scott Jennings, Sara M. Taylor, or any other current or former White House employees or officials involved in the firings and replacements as well as documents related to the testimony of Justice Department officials to Congress regarding this matter.  These would include the purportedly “lost” Rove e-mails that should have been retrieved by now and should now be produced without further delay. 

I am disappointed that I have to turn to subpoenas in order to obtain information needed by the Committee to fulfill its oversight responsibilities regarding the firings and the erosion of independence at the Justice Department.  However, the evidence that White House officials were deeply involved leaves me no choice,  in light of the Administration’s lack of voluntary cooperation. 

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