E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Bush Stands By His Man
It was very clear from President Bush’s brief statement and short news conference just ended that he does not intend to back down from his support of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, nor will he allow his top White House staff — adviser Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers and their deputies — to be subjected to open public testimony on Capitol Hill. He said the White House had offered a reasonable compromise to Congress as it investigates the firings of federal prosecutors; Mr. Gonzales and his staff would testify before Congressional committees to clear up “confusion” and offer the “facts.”

“There’s no indication that anyone did anything improper,” Mr. Bush said. He said both he and Mr. Gonzales were dissatisfied with the explanations offered to Congress so far, and promised to provide additional documents and testimony on the issue. Asked whether Mr. Gonzales still enjoyed his confidence, “He’s got support with me.”

Democrats on the Hill seemed to flatly reject the compromise offered earlier today by the White House counsel, Fred Fielding: that Ms. Miers and Mr. Rove were willing to be interviewed privately, but not under oath and not in public. Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the president should not be telling the Senate how to conduct investigations.

The president countered that tonight, basically saying that if Congress tried to subpoena his aides, there would be a constitutional showdown.
“Initial response by Democrats, unfortunately, shows some appear more interested in scoring political points than in learning the facts. It will be regrettable if they choose to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials when I have agreed to make key White House officials and documents available.

I have proposed a reasonable way to avoid an impasse. I hope they don’t choose confrontation. I will oppose any attempts to subpoena White House officials.

If we cut through all the partisan rhetoric, it’s important to maintain perspective on a couple of important points. First, it was natural and appropriate for members of the White House staff to consider and to discuss with the Justice Department whether to replace all 93 U.S. attorneys at the beginning of my second term. ”
He said he would go to the mat if Congress issued subpoenas to his staff.
Posted by: Fred 2007-03-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=183604