by John Bresnahan, The Politico
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is threatening to issue subpoenas to the White House unless the Bush administration turns over information in its possession related to the mass firing of U.S. attorneys last year.
“There is evidence that White House officials were deeply involved in what appears to be an effort to impose political influence on federal law enforcement,” Leahy said in a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding today. “If the White House continues its refusal to provide information to the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voluntary basis, I will have no choice but to issue subpoenas to try to get to the truth in this matter.”
According to Leahy, the White House has not turned over any documents related to the involvement of Karl Rove and other senior officials in the firings, or any documents. Fielding has offered to allow White House officials to be interviewed, but only in private sessions with no transcripts of those interviews being kept. Leahy and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) have rejected Fielding’s offer as unacceptable.