Senate Judiciary Committee
Approves Contempt Citations
For Rove, Bolten In
Bipartisan Vote
WASHINGTON (Thursday, Dec. 13,
2007) – In a bipartisan vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee
Thursday found former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl
Rove and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to be in
contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas issued
in connection with the Committee’s investigation into the mass
firings of U.S. Attorneys. Today’s action follows bipartisan
votes by the panel earlier this year to authorize subpoenas for
documents and testimony from Bolten and Rove, which were later
issued after the White House, Bolten and Rove failed to comply
with extensive efforts by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to
encourage voluntary cooperation.
The approval of the resolutions
comes two weeks after Leahy ruled that the President’s claims of
executive privilege were overbroad and not legally valid to
block Bolten and Rove from providing Congress with subpoenaed
documents and testimony. Bolten was scheduled to appear and
provide documents to the Committee by June 28, and Rove was
summoned to appear to testify before the Judiciary Committee on
August 2, but both failed to meet the deadlines.
In a vote of 12-7, the Judiciary
Committee Thursday reported resolutions of contempt to the full
Senate. The Committee has been investigating the mass firings
of U.S. Attorneys and the politicization of the Department of
Justice under the Bush Administration. Congressional
investigations into the firings led to the resignations of the
entire senior leadership at the Department of Justice, including
former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and of several senior
White House aides, including Rove, both of whom tendered their
resignations in August.
“This is not a step I have wanted
to take,” said Leahy of the Committee’s vote. “I have tried for
many months to find ways to work with the White House and avoid
a legal confrontation. Congressional oversight is an essential
part of our system of checks and balances. Getting answers and
information helps identify and prevent abuses that hurt the
American people and that corrode our system. White House
stonewalling is unilateralism at its worst, and it thwarts
accountability. Executive privilege should not be invoked to
prevent investigations into wrongdoing, and abusing it should
have remedies and consequences. These resolutions are a remedy
and a consequence. We should act to protect Congress’ ability
to conduct oversight and the right of the American people to
know the whole truth about the U.S. Attorney firings.”
The contempt resolutions now will
be reported to the full Senate for consideration. Below is
Leahy’s statement from Thursday’s Judiciary Committee voting
session. The text of the resolutions of contempt follow.
# # # # #
Leahy Ruling of White House Claims of Executive Privilege.
Resolution of Contempt for Joshua Bolten.
Resolution of Contempt for Karl Rove.
Subpoena Sent to Joshua Bolten.
Subpoena Sent to Karl Rove.
# # # # #
Opening Statement of Sen.
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
December 13, 2007
This week we have held three more
important hearings before the Committee. I have noticed two
more hearings next week to consider several of the President’s
Executive Branch nominees. Regrettably, many of those announced
for top Justice Department positions were not, in fact,
nominated when announced, and even after those nominations were
finally received, many still lack the necessary background
checks and materials necessary to be considered. We are
proceeding expeditiously with the nomination of Mark Filip to be
the Deputy Attorney General and will hear from him next
Wednesday. I noticed that hearing immediately upon receiving
the nomination and background materials.
This week’s agenda includes a
number of items I had hoped the Committee would have considered
last week but that were carried over. We begin with the
resolutions arising from the failures of Karl Rove and the
President’s chief of staff to honor this Committee’s subpoenas.
As the Ranking Member has said, when we issue subpoenas, we need
to follow up. We have worked together during the last week to
modify the language in the resolutions and I believe we can
proceed efficiently this morning to consider and approve those
items. The White House’s blanket claims of executive privilege
and immunity are insufficient to excuse current and former White
House employees from appearing, testifying and producing
documents related to this Committee’s investigation. Having
been directed to comply with the Committees’ subpoenas, they
have not done so and now we must take the next steps to enforce
the Committee’s subpoenas. This is not a step I have wanted to
take — in fact, I have tried for many months to find ways to
work with the White House and avoid a confrontation.
The President has not accepted
responsibility for the firings or given any indication that he
was involved in White House efforts to politicize federal law
enforcement. Instead, the White House line is that “mistakes
were made.” Apparently no one, least of all the President, is
responsible, yet somehow executive privilege supposedly applies
to cloak all White House activities and communication in regards
to these firings affecting the independence and integrity of
federal law enforcement from oversight.
The White House counsel asserts
that executive privilege covers all documents and information in
the possession of the White House. They have gone further and
claimed absolute immunity even to have to appear and respond to
this Committee’s subpoenas for Mr. Rove and Mr. Bolten. And
they contend that their blanket claim of privilege cannot be
tested but must be accepted by the Congress as the last word.
Their views of the unitary and all powerful Executive know no
bounds.
The position taken by this White
House in refusing to turn over documents or allow White House
officials and former officials to testify is a dramatic break
from the practices of every administration since World War II in
responding to congressional oversight. In that time,
presidential advisers have testified before congressional
committees 74 times, either voluntarily or compelled by
subpoenas.
Executive privilege should not be
invoked to prevent investigations into wrongdoing, and certainly
should not prevail. These resolutions are an effort to provide
a fuller account and accountability. We should act to protect
Congress’ ability to conduct oversight and the right of the
American people to learn the whole truth about the U.S. Attorney
firings.
During the past week we have
learned that the CIA destroyed videotapes of detainee
interrogations. That revelation is leading to another
investigation. As the Ranking Member on this Committee from
2001 through 2005, I was not informed of the existence of the
videotapes or of their destruction. I do not believe the
Republican Chairmen were either. I have repeatedly sought
information about the Administration’s interrogations of
detainees, including in connection with the consideration of the
Mukasey nomination and my October 25, 2007, letter to the White
House counsel. We continue doing so. This week Senator Specter
and I jointly wrote the Attorney General seeking information
relevant to the tapes, their destruction and the preliminary
inquiry now underway within the Executive Branch. Surely,
Congress must retain the authority to investigate and even
subpoena relevant information without being foreclosed by
blanket claims of executive privilege. I ask unanimous consent
that an editorial from the Vermont’s Rutland Herald about the
destruction of these tapes be included in the record.
We will next turn to Senator
Specter’s bill to use the legal concept of substitution as an
alternative to retroactive immunity in connection with the
warrantless wiretapping of Americans contrary to law from 2001.
I commend his constructive effort and look forward to that
discussion.
Also on our agenda is our
bipartisan bill to adjust judicial pay. I introduced this
bipartisan legislation with Senators Hatch, Feinstein, Graham,
Reid, and McConnell almost six months ago. It was the first
bill introduced on this matter following the plea from the Chief
Justice at the beginning of the year. This bill would authorize
an increase in federal judicial salaries to recognize the
important constitutional role judges play in administering
justice, interpreting our laws, and providing the ultimate check
and balance in our system of government. Since 1969, the
salaries of federal judges have significantly declined when
adjusted for inflation.
Eight years ago, Congress saw fit
to double the President’s salary to $400,000 a year. We are not
proposing to increase judges’ salaries by 100 percent, but by
half that. Our democracy and the rights we enjoy depend on a
strong and independent Judiciary. Surely we can do half as much
for the judicial branch of government as we did for the
Executive eight years ago. This was a key subject in the Chief
Justice’s annual report for this year and I would like this
Committee to act on it today.
I trust that the Republican
holdover of the bill for the reauthorization of the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children will not portend
further delay and that we can consider and report that measure
without complications.
I urge all Members who have not
yet arrived to come and participate with us in the work of the
Committee.
# # # # #
RESOLUTION
Authorizing
the President of the Senate to certify the facts of the failure
of Joshua Bolten, as the Custodian of Records at the White
House, to appear before the Committee on the Judiciary and
produce documents as required by Committee subpoena.
WHEREAS, since the beginning of
this Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee has conducted an
investigation into the removal of United States Attorneys;
WHEREAS, the Committee’s requests
for information related to its investigation, including
documents and testimony from the White House and White House
personnel, were denied;
WHEREAS, the White House has not
offered any accommodation or compromise to provide the
information requested that is acceptable to the Committee;
WHEREAS, on April 12, 2007,
pursuant to its authority under Rule 26 of the Standing Rules of
the Senate, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary authorized
issuance to the Custodian of Records at the White House, a
subpoena which commands the Custodian of Records to provide the
Committee with all documents in the possession, control, or
custody of the White House related to the Committee’s
investigation;
WHEREAS, on June 13, 2007, the
Chairman issued a subpoena pursuant to the April 12, 2007,
authorization to White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten as the
White House Custodian of Records, for documents related to the
Committee’s investigation, with a return date of June 28, 2007;
WHEREAS, on June 28, 2007, in
response to subpoenas for documents issued by the Senate and
House Judiciary Committees, White House Counsel Fred Fielding
conveyed the President’s claim of executive privilege over all
information in the custody and control of the White House
related to the Committee’s investigation;
WHEREAS, based on this claim of
executive privilege, Mr. Bolten refused to appear and produce
documents to the Committee in compliance with the subpoena;
WHEREAS, on June 29, 2007, the
Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees provided
the White House with an opportunity to substantiate its
privilege claims by providing the Committees with the specific
factual and legal bases for its privilege claims regarding each
document withheld and a privilege log to demonstrate to the
Committees which documents, and which parts of those documents,
are covered by any privilege that is asserted to apply and why;
WHEREAS, the White House declined
this opportunity in a July 9, 2007, letter to the Committee
Chairmen from Mr. Fielding, while reiterating the privilege
claim;
WHEREAS, on August 17, 2007, Mr.
Fielding rejected the Chairman’s request for a meeting with the
President to work out an accommodation for the information
sought by the Committee;
WHEREAS, on November 29, 2007, the
Chairman ruled that the White House’s claims of executive
privilege and immunity are not legally valid to excuse current
and former White House employees from appearing, testifying and
producing documents related to this investigation and directed
Mr. Bolten, along with other current and former White House
employees, to comply immediately with the Committee’s subpoenas
by producing documents and testifying;
WHEREAS, Mr. Bolten has not
complied with the Committee’s subpoenas or made any offer to
cure his previous noncompliance;
WHEREAS, the Committee’s
investigation is pursuant to the constitutional legislative,
oversight and investigative powers of Congress and the
responsibilities of this Committee to the Senate and the
American people; including the power to: 1) investigate the
administration of existing laws, and obtain executive branch
information in order to consider new legislation, within the
Committee’s jurisdiction, including legislation related to the
appointment of U.S. Attorneys; 2) expose any corruption,
inefficiency, and waste within the executive branch; 3) protect
the Committee’s role in evaluating nominations pursuant to the
Senate’s constitutional responsibility to provide advice and
consent; and 4) examine whether inaccurate, incomplete, or
misleading testimony or other information was provided to the
Committee;
BE IT RESOLVED, that the President
of the Senate certify the facts in connection with the failure
of Joshua Bolten, as the Custodian of Records at the White
House, though duly summoned, to appear and to produce documents
lawfully subpoenaed to be produced before the Committee, under
the seal of the United States Senate, to the United States
Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Joshua
Bolten may be proceeded against in the manner and form provided
by law.
# # # # #
RESOLUTION
Authorizing
the President of the Senate to certify the facts of the failure
of Karl Rove to appear and testify before the Committee on the
Judiciary and to produce documents as required by Committee
subpoena.
WHEREAS, since the beginning of
this Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee has conducted an
investigation into the removal of United States Attorneys;
WHEREAS, the Committee’s requests
for information related to its investigation, including
documents and testimony from the White House and White House
personnel, were denied;
WHEREAS, the White House has not
offered any accommodation or compromise to provide the requested
information that is acceptable to the Committee;
WHEREAS, on March 22, 2007,
pursuant to its authority under Rule 26 of the Standing Rules of
the Senate, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary authorized
issuance to Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President,
subpoenas in connection with the Committee’s investigation;
WHEREAS, on June 28, 2007, in
response to subpoenas for documents issued by the Senate and
House Judiciary Committees, White House Counsel Fred Fielding
conveyed the President’s claim of executive privilege over all
information in the custody and control of the White House
related to the Committee’s investigation;
WHEREAS, on June 29, 2007, the
Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees provided
the White House with an opportunity to substantiate its
privilege claims by providing the Committees with the specific
factual and legal bases for its privilege claims regarding each
document withheld and a privilege log to demonstrate to the
Committees which documents, and which parts of those documents,
are covered by any privilege that is asserted to apply and why;
WHEREAS, the White House declined
this opportunity in a July 9, 2007, letter to the Committee
Chairmen from Mr. Fielding, while reiterating the blanket
privilege claims;
WHEREAS, on July 26, 2007, the
Chairman issued a subpoena authorized March 22 to Mr. Rove for
documents and testimony related to the Committee’s
investigation, with a return date of August 2;
WHEREAS, the Chairman noticed an
August 2, 2007, Judiciary Committee hearing under its Rules at
which Mr. Rove was subpoenaed to testify;
WHEREAS, Mr. Fielding, in an
August 1, 2007 letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member,
informed the Committee that the President would invoke a claim
of executive privilege and a claim of immunity from
congressional testimony for Mr. Rove, and directed Mr. Rove not
to produce responsive documents or testify before the Committee
about the firings, and that Mr. Rove would not appear in
response to the Committee’s subpoena;
WHEREAS, based on these claims of
executive privilege and absolute immunity,
Mr. Rove refused to appear or to
produce documents or to testify at the Committee’s August 2,
2007, hearing in compliance with the subpoena;
WHEREAS, on August 17, 2007, Mr.
Fielding rejected the Chairman’s request for a meeting with the
President to work out an accommodation for the information
sought by the Committee;
WHEREAS, on November 29, 2007, the
Chairman ruled that the White House’s claims of executive
privilege and immunity are not legally valid to excuse current
and former White House employees from appearing, testifying and
producing documents related to this investigation and directed
Mr. Rove, along with other current and former White House
employees, to comply immediately with the Committee’s subpoenas
by producing documents and testifying;
WHEREAS, Mr. Rove has not complied
with the Committee’s subpoenas or made any offer to cure his
previous noncompliance;
WHEREAS, the Committee’s
investigation is pursuant to the constitutional legislative,
oversight and investigative powers of Congress and the
responsibilities of this Committee to the Senate and the
American people; including the power to: 1) investigate the
administration of existing laws, and obtain executive branch
information in order to consider new legislation, within the
Committee’s jurisdiction, including legislation related to the
appointment of U.S. Attorneys; 2) expose any corruption,
inefficiency, and waste within the executive branch; 3) protect
the Committee’s role in evaluating nominations pursuant to the
Senate’s constitutional responsibility to provide advice and
consent; and 4) examine whether inaccurate, incomplete, or
misleading testimony or other information was provided to the
Committee;
BE IT RESOLVED, that the President
of the Senate certify the facts in connection with the failure
of Karl Rove, though duly summoned, to appear and testify before
the Judiciary Committee and to produce documents lawfully
subpoenaed to be produced before the Committee, under the seal
of the United States Senate, to the United States Attorney for
the District of Columbia, to the end that Karl Rove may be
proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law.
# # # # #
