Over the years, Republicans have held hearings on Bill Clinton's Christmas card list and called for answers on Socks the Cat's fan mail. Yet they continue to stonewall attempts to question key players in the scandal surrounding the apparently politically-motivated firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. Despite emails showing that top White House advisers such as Harriet Miers and Karl Rove were involved in the decision, the White House has cited executive privilege and placed restrictions on their cooperation with Congress such as demanding closed-door hearings with no transcripts and even refused to place the advisers under oath.
The same Republicans that previously spoke out strongly on the importance of candor in our government officials are strangely silent now.
BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS AN UNPRECEDENTED RECORD OF CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS
Democratic White Houses Have Historically Cooperated: A Congressional Research Service report identified 62 instances of Democratic presidential advisors testifying before Congress in recent decades, 54 of them during the Clinton administration. [CRS Report RL31351]
- 30 Clinton aides testified 54 times [CRS Report RL31351]
Republican Advisors Appear Less: In contrast, the CRS report found zero instances of such testimony during the Reagan or Bush I administrations, and nine in the first term of Bush II, all of which involved Thomas Ridge and homeland security before the formation of a cabinet department. The only three instances in the last 30 years of an advisor refusing to testify were since 2002, under George W. Bush. [CRS Report RL31351 (emphasis added)]
