Rove announces he has no intention of obeying Conyers' subpoena
By David Neiwert Thursday Jan 29, 2009 9:00am
That subpoena from John Conyers seems to be making Karl Rove a little more ... clenched these days. Appearing with the ever-friendly Bill O'Reilly last night, he dismissed the possibility he would even consider appearing for the legal summons:
Rove: I have been directed, again on January 16, by the outgoing president's legal counsel, not to respond to a subpoena, exerting privilege on behalf of the former president and his close aides.
O'Reilly: So you're not even going to show?
Rove: No, and --
O'Reilly: What if they hold you in contempt of Congress?
Rove: Look, this issue is -- let's step back for a minute. This issue of whether or not I should show up -- I've never exerted any personal privilege, I've never said I have a personal right not to show up.
O'Reilly: No, but you're a counselor to the president, it's executive -- I got all that. But let's go beyond the argument. I know your argument. Say Conyers says Mr. Rove is in contempt of Congress. What happens then?
Rove: Well, look, this issue is before the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. Rep. Conyers could have waited until they resolved the issue one way or the other, gave guidance to him and gave guidance to the former president and to the current president. But instead, he decided to go forward with this -- I don't know if I want to call it a witch hunt, I don't think of myself as a witch, but I'm certain -- this is a guy who went to the cloak room and said, 'Somebody has to get his --' and then filled in a crude way to describe my posterior. He's sort of like Captain Ahab and I'm the whale.
Well, we know President Obama isn't keen on Conyers proceeding, but this indeed isn't just about petty revenge, as O'Reilly and Rove want to pretend. There are in fact much bigger issues at stake here:
PLEASE NOTE: C&L realizes that Karl Rove is not well-liked here for a great many reasons. Remember that wishing physical harm on anyone when you leave a comment here is against the commenting policy and will be deleted. You folks know better. - Sitemonitor
At issue is whether presidential advisers can be compelled to testify before Congress. Chairman Conyers wants Mr. Rove to appear before his panel to answer questions on the 2006 firings of US attorneys, prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D), and “politicization of the Department of Justice.”
The panel also wants the Obama administration to release relevant documents from the Bush administration bearing on these issues.
The legal issues for the new administration are highly controversial, but both the White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress have laid the groundwork for a shift in policy from the Bush administration over executive privilege, which was frequently invoked in the Bush years in clashes with the Congress.
Rove wasn't clear last night whether he will be making a simple claim of executive privilege or will attempt, as he has in the past, to assert an "absolute immunity" that is not only novel but clearly counter to court rulings on the matter. Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel recently explored this in some detail, noting that a simple executive-privilege would seem unlikely to stand up in this case, while the latter claim flies in the face of the Supreme Court rulings establishing the parameters of executive privilege.
After all, the key ruling in this matter, U.S. v. Nixon, is quite clear:
To read the Article II powers of the President as providing an absolute privilege as against a subpoena essential to enforcement of criminal statutes on no more than a generalized claim of the public interest in confidentiality of nonmilitary and nondiplomatic discussions would upset the constitutional balance of 'a workable government' and gravely impair the role of the courts under Article III.
Meanwhile, it's also worth noting that Don Siegelman is mightily pleased.
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We all know that BillO and Rove have their own petty delusions.
First BTW
I understand the Senate has some arrest powers.
yea I know something about that contempt thing that BillO brought up I do believe includes a little bit of time in the Stars n Bars hotel.
Yeah they do and I hope Conyers uses them. I want to see Rove to the perp walk. Cry baby cry
its arrest power since the 1920s or so. But I'd love to see it happen.
put his fat posteriour in prison
are not words I would, or anyone, would usually equate as the same.
They're gonna love Rove in prison. Looks kinda like a hog to me. Bet he can squeal like a pig with the best of them.
He is in inherent contempt. Conyers needs to direct the US marshalls to arrest Rove and bring in front of the committee in shackles. If he won't speak, and speak honestly,give him 30 days in the congressional brig. Repeat as many times as necessary. An example needs to be made that cannot be ignored by anypast, present or future would-be despots.
Rove doesn't consider himself a witch.
Put him to the test!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g
I sink like a rock
Or a coconut loaded African swallow.
That's coconut LADEN African swallow, you insensitive clod!
Is that you CowboyNeal?
That was an extremely odd thing for him to say. Maybe he really is a witch. It certainly wouldn't surprise me to learn he was a Satanist. He looks the type actually.
Aren't witches supposed to be female?
Not always. One does not need to be a female to practice witchcraft.
1st - Rove doesn't see himself as a witch - well that's the whole point - accusing someone of something they didn't do. So does Mr. Rove actually believe in witches? That there were witches in Salem casting spells or that he is such a true believer that in the Bush White House he indeed perceived witches? Did you know witches are incapable of wearing a flag pin? - sears their flesh.
2cd - Who was the "brain" behind the biggest witch hunt since McCarthy? Karl Rove - that's called irony.
Place his bloated behind under arrest...and when he proclaims his innocence and refuses to comply...explain that innocent people don't get arrested...[Deleted-Sitemonitor]
If Rove is a no-show, i want him to be arrested and humiliated. [Deleted-Sitemonitor]
Do they make Harpoons that big?
"To the dories, to the dories!"
alss holes like rove never serve time, they are above the law, jail or prisons just for the little people!
Kenny-Boy 'Keel Over Dead' Lay, and his bereaved widow who lamented, "We're destitute!"?
when kenny-boy droped dead(sure he did,show me the body)his guilty verdict droped dead too. his wife got every thing,even the offshore accounts.
He is a whale...fat ass.
If someone breaks the law they are held accountable, whether they are in the administration or not. Not even Karl Rove is above the rule of law. We are a nations of laws, not men, remember?
... but we didn't break the law. See? Unitary executive! Unitary executive!
ha ha ha heeeeeeeeee a nation of laws ? bull crappus!
... that is, they that have the gold, make da rules.
Finally, KKKarl speaks some truth.
"... To the last shall I grapple with thee. From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."
Rethuglicans will always project their own failings onto others and point an accusing finger.
..it was from a Star Trek movie wasn't it?
Good news!
Karl seems to be forgetting that this isn't Bush's AG in the White House. Holder is more likely to issue a warrant for his arrest if he doesn't show up. :)
Isn't AG Eric Holder going to obey Kitt Bond?
don't threaten us with a good time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeqCqxhxLtc
I loved when Hot Karl denied it was a "WITCH HUNT " because he didn't think he was a Witch , I have to agree with him on that one point . It was a " **** HUNT " let him try and deny that.
Perhaps the senate should file charges with a court who's jurisdiction turdblossom is under. Technically, if you deny the right of Congressional Over-sight you deny Executive Priviledge, since neither are mentioned in the Constitution.
Karl Rove is displaying his disdain for the Country, Constitution, law and ethics, and the conservative values shine.
Yet, conservatives want others to obey the laws.
karl, let me tell you, there are American soldiers overseas in harms way, risky their lives and you can't muster an inkling of spine to face Congress and obey the law. Not the law you wrote for yourself and the Bush Adm., but America's law.
Conservatives always feel they must be treated so special. If the responsibilities of adulthood hasn't yet surfaced in conservatives lives. You won't see it now and a spanking probably wouldn't be understood.
oh, the rover, our amurrikan rasputin, must be getting nervous (and rightfully so). the legal bills mount, some of his allies are imprisoned and the rest are in the political wilderness...
so, seeing rove squeezed into his suit, one can be certain that under his coat jacket, under his shirt, beneath his wife-beater, the beads of sweat course down his back, through the valley of his lower back, and down thru his, strangely bruised, ass cheeks.
know, that when you see the rover, his undies are slightly sweat-soaked.
and that is his moisture of fear.
woman, who must remove the stank...
Bill O'Reilly made sure he mentioned that Rove was talking to us from Dallas. What happened to Rove's house in Northern Virginia? Is it suddenly too close to DC?
sing like I'm full of THE math.
http://thebruceblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/...
to think you're above the law when you think you have the judge and jury in your pocket -- well KKKarl, I've got some news for you. There's a new sheriff in town. You know the guy -- the one who wasn't afraid to go up in front of the boys in Congress and say that waterboarding is torture.
I think KKKarl's next move should be to go back on Billo the Clown's show, bend over and kiss his big fat white ass goodbye
the repugs are assholes now, just think what would do if fatass went to jail. na,na,na,na,hey,hey,goodby,
Even if he doesn't see jail time, which he should, I just need to see closure and exposure of the W era. Let him squirm either before Congress or in a lock up somewhere.
Rove, Rumsfeld, Bush & Cheney, and all others complicit in that illegal administration spend the rest of their days at Club Gitmo.
that dork gov from Il is getting lots of shit, but when it comes to shitblossem, the news is mute.
... as well as the weak-minded.
"You don't need to subpoena me."
"These aren't the e-mails you're looking for."
"I can go about my business."
It seems as if "Bush's Brain" didn't do his homework and make sure that the Chimp pardoned him for his crimes
"He's sort of like Captain Ahab and I'm the whale."
In more ways than one...
can we watch as his fat ass is carted off to some federal prison for
contempt of congress..............will there be a place where we can
cheer? here?
did go to jail,he would relive his time in gradeschool when the girls punked him out and tool his lunch money.
Rove will never be charged with anything big like torture, murder, or conspiracy.
If Rove goes to jail it will be for something minor like tax evasion or embezzlement.
in Austin, Texas as soon as Bush became governor.
relevant to his impeachment.
any good cowboy references?
.
http://www.yourcycling.com/cycling-features/i...
Cow-pokes: Brokeback Mountain II.
... a Frank Rizzo routine.
"Youse wants to impeach me? Come on, I'll takes youse on. All of youse."
For crying out loud. hurry up and put that slimy, fat criminal in jail.
traitorous ass to the slam.
Nothing brings us all together like the prospect of KKKarl doing the perp walk!
and a very good one it is.
http://thebruceblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/...
No investigations?
No Rule Of Law.
No America.
(h/t to Jonathan Turley)
arrest his ass on national television in front of one of his Faux friends. That'll get the greasy little bugger's attention.
Tell 'em who's still boss, George!
this early obama admin situation, imo, will demonstrate what the obama administration's intentions are when it comes to the bush/cheney/rove/delay legacy of crime. will there be investigations? will there be trials? will there ever be justice?
so, if Obama administration releases the relevant documents "from the Bush administration bearing on these issues" it is likely that obama will lead the dems to investigate the bush admin. if not... i doubt anything will happen to the bushies or the chenites under obama's watch...
no ifs, ands, or buts. He always has been a crook.
I don't see how executive privilege can be invoked (although I'm not an expert) in the case of Siegelmann....that doesn't involve Bush or national security, does it?
I hope Rove gets thrown in jail.
Butt.....
Obomba wont investigate the war crimes by Bush & co.
For if he does, he would reveal his own complicity. Read the LAWS or SIGNING STATEMENTS PEOPLE. Before you go all "Oh my god, Obamba is SOOOOOOOOO wonderful!"
He is not. He is a lawyer and a charismatic leader. No more. He has no ideas, no change in cabinet members, nothing!
Obamba and the Democrats (with Republicans) are one of the same.
Sorry you're such an negative person, but I think Obama will make positive changes- provided the Republicans don't torpedo him on the way....Don't be so dour, otherwise you are part of the problem.
Truth is fed up with decades of partisan bullshite like a majority of the world.
no bush cheny investigations of any of bushes clonys , no justce defenatly no peace! obamas not into justice it gets in the way of progress?
Did they ban you from Sadly,No? Or did the ridicule sting too much?
You live in a sad world. I feel badly for you.
The witches will be glad to know.
He's right about one thing he is a whale.
how Rove can claim executive privilege anymore.
Obama relaxed the definition of executive privilege his first day in office.
So Karl thinks he's still all that?
Didn't members from Clinton's Cabinet go before the Congress after he was out of office? Why is there a double standard here? And they went in front of Congress about petty things, like travelgate.
Forever removing any doubt that Karl is a bottom.
I'm just sayin'...
Karl told me he had a horse named Cherokee running in the Kentucky Derby. Imagine that. A Quarter Horse trying to compete with the Thoroughbreds.
There's no way in hell that Rove will testify. He'll refuse, the Democrats will cower in fear, perhaps write a strongly worded note to someone, which will get ignored, and it will all disappear for a few months till the same issue comes up again.
This country is morally bankrupt since those in power all have something to hide, and are not willing to start toppling the house of cards they've built.
LOL To hear Turd Blossom describe himself as Great White Whale! The characterization is fitting though, as Moby Dick was infamous and a dangerous threat to (sea)men.
I'll bet Rove hasn't even read Moby Dick ... at least not since he was in high school. And it's great to see BO further marginalize himself.
Whether sincere or not, if Rove does ignore the court action and nothing is done about it we may as well pack up the judicial system and close it's doors forever. We will have proven that we are not a Nation of Law but an unfortunate Rogue State. God forbid!
Rove and Bush have stacked the federal court system with their movement conservative minions, all the way up to the Roberts-Alito court. He'll use the appeal process to save his butt.
Frog March! Frog March! Frog March!
http://tinyurl.com/dds49y
I usta wonder how Germans and Russian formations marched without kicking each others ass.
If that's what it takes to make him appear before Congress.
Sounds like his dates with jeff gannon.
honoring subpoenas during the heyday of the HUAC. US Marshals were disatched to detain and present before Congress people who ignored its subpoenas, iirc.
[Deleted-Sitemonitor]
Karl knows we are "a nation of laws" and when he is ordered to congress to testify about a "specific issue" that affects our congressional balance he is compelled to show. Bottom line!
Now, he's caused his own problems. It's not Bush's problem. It's not Cheney's problem (that is, unless some other illegal things happened that Rove is COMPELLED to testify about), but, It's Rove's duty as a American citizen to "testify" before the congress. Otherwise he is: In Contempt Of Congress, and I believe that is against this "nation of laws". Arrest him, he's in contempt of Congress already. This deals, possibly, with the illegal politization of America's US Attorneys. For the last year congress has wanted him to testify. This ain't about "now"...this is about "then". He never showed.
If he's an American citizen, he must comply. Otherwise go to Dubai, where his other country loves him. Then he will be "on the lamb" from American law.
T.Jefferson
he can still claim his 5th Amendment privilege.
That's why elBooosh-o didn't grant pardons.
If he had done so, they would have been able to be compelled to testify, since they wouldn't have been incriminating themselves.
This way, Rover, and Meirs, and Beto Gonzales can appear, but refuse to testify by taking the Fifth...
Rove can't just not show up though. In order to claim privilege, you have to show up to the hearing. So by not showing up, Rove is in contempt of Congress and should be arrested and tried. I'd love to see some charges of treason.
Rover and the congressional Republicans don't realize how the world has changed in just 4 months. They still think of themselves as masters of the universe - maybe a perp walk or two will wake them up.
republicans are us?
I hope to see rove and his bosses all standing trial.
America and the world could use a little justice!
he refuses to show up.
The lies, corruption, breaking of laws. the do as I say, not as I do theory, the millions of people who have succumbed to a miserable life, the million or more deaths in the arab nations and they yell out Executive Privilege? My arse, the Bush administration took down this country, bankrupt it and now the little wienie that had something to do with alot of the lies and corruption hides behind his mommy's skirt.
The sad part about it, is the United States Government have their own rules and laws and have gotten away with murder.
We need to make our Government for the people accountable.
FROG-MARCHED INTO JAIL!!
But I am mailing Conyers an eight foot harpoon.
John,
Either follow through and cite Pigboy for contempt of congress and have his blubbery ass arrested or put away the subpoenas. We the people don't have time for cheap and meaningless political stunts if you don't intend to follow through.
"PLEASE NOTE: C&L realizes that Karl Rove is not well-liked here for a great many reasons. Remember that wishing physical harm on anyone when you leave a comment here is against the commenting policy and will be deleted. You folks know better. - Sitemonitor"
[Deleted. I'd love to tell you to take your so not clever retort and shove it, but I'm sure it would be considered as rude as you are. Knock. It. Off. Clear enough for you? Sitemonitor]
Why do all the NEO scum have to go on Dildo Bills show to spew their shit ? Im sure Olbermann would love to have fat boy on his show too.
Rove is claiming that he's been ordered by President Bush not to appear before the committee. If President Obama orders him to appear, the conflict between the two Presidential order will become an issue for a court to decide providing neither President budges.
... with the liar interviewing the crook. Or is it the other way round? In any case, nice double play, C&L.
[Deleted. Why would you ignore such a clear note on this subject, within story even?
Jeez-Sitemonitor]
Rove knows only one equation: ignoring=no consequences.
It will be most revealing to see how far Conyers will be permitted to actually get with his own peers. Whether "Pulling Pelosi's" still prevail, and if they do still prevail will they prevail at the highest levels.
AND if the profound deadness of being is living on as the new paradigm compliments of the founding principle of sociopathology of the last 8 long years.
Rove is taking the bet that is the case. In our faces, fellow americans.
if rove doesn't show for this subpoena, the
a little extraordinary rendition to another
country just might convince him just how
important it is to the morality of the USA.
there are other countries that would love
to have him as their guest during his war
crimes trial.
The sad reality is that all of the Bush bastards will probably never get what they deserve. But at the very least, Congress, DAs and anyone else who can keep Rove and his gang tied up in legal battles for the rest of their lives should never stop trying to make them accountable until they've breathed their last guilt breaths.
Silly Conyers?
He's under the impression that he's in some sort of co-equal branch of government that is supposed to exercise some kind of check over the executive.
Where could he possibly have gotten that idea?
Doesn't he realize that Congress doesn't have any power and he's just supposed to wait on the District of Columbia and the courts?
Either way, in a week or so, Holder will bring Rove in.
I like how the revelation of Bill O suggestion of hiding Rove in his tunnels of the FOX building.
1) he is intentionally encouraging aiding and abetting a known criminal
2) His building may have dungeon and tunnels under the FOXnews castle
get the movie Out Foxed. the people who did not cave went into them.
Will the new POTUS, the former Constitutional Law professor, see fit to have the criminal acts of the former regime investigated?
I'm not holding my breath.
I sincerely hope Karl Rove gets to share a cell with a big black man named “Bubba” that will help him expand his social outlook.
Is anyone surprised by this?!
/seriously, anyone?!?!
him and his posse and the TV crew, would make for some fun TV.
Rove: 'Somebody has to get his --' and then filled in a crude way to describe my posterior.
He pretends "ass" is too harsh to say and yet this is the guy who has boasted about "fucking people over" and "screwing them". But here he tries to maintain the false "conservative" image of being so civil that he wouldn't say anything Queen Victoria might have disapproved of. Stupid fucker.
And I personally wish him worse than just bodily harm, me and a lot of other people.
why do the rest of us peons have to live under the laws that govern this nation and this slimy dog gets off scot free again and again.
Can't wait to see Tubby McTreason in a cell.
.
Congressman John Conyers already proved that Karl Rove's contempt is a good thing. Why else did the Congressman NOT proceed with inherent contempt charges the first time Rove said the proverbial, "make me"?
.
Carl Rove is the main figure head behind alot of crap that went down.
I want to see him testify, found guilty and cry all the way to jail.
Will I ever see Rove(TURD BLOSSOM) in a Orange Jump Suit and Legg Irons? To ans. my own Question NO why because the CORPORATE CONRTOLED MEDIA is protecting Rove(TURD BLOSSOM) and all of Bush'S Crime Family. And it seems that Obama iS there every time that the REPUBLICANS WHINE to wipe away all the TEARS and MAKE IT ALL GO AWAY. And I voted FOR Him. Could it have been a big MISTAKE?
This GOPer clown is has made his challenge to bring him in.
Did he call the Dems bluff?
Dems have no choice, as if they hadn't had a reason before. I f there is no follow through now by the Dems. they will look weak, non effective, and as liars in accusations put forth.
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