Rove will not testify under oath on firings

Rove will not testify under oath on firings
By Brooke Masters in New York and Edward Luce in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: March 20 2007 19:11 | Last updated: March 21 2007 00:15



President George W. Bush on Tuesday threw down the gauntlet to the Democratic-controlled Congress over its demand that senior officials be subpoenaed over the firings of eight US attorneys, warning them against any “partisan fishing expedition”.

“It will be regrettable if they [the Democrats] go down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials,” Mr Bush said in a televised address. “I will oppose any attempts to subpoena White House officials.”

The president was responding to Democratic anger over his refusal to accede to their request that Karl Rove, his senior strategist, and Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, testify over the controversial sacking of the top prosecutors late last year.

The White House launched a counter-offensive argument on behalf of Alberto Gonzales, the attorney-general who is facing calls for his resignation over his handling of the crisis.

Although the president said he did not approve of the way the Department of Justice had provided a shifting series of explanations for the sackings, he publicly reaffirmed his support for Mr Gonzales, reiterating that he still has confidence in his old friend from Texas.

An influential Republican with close White House ties said the attorney-general’s position was not safe. He said Fred Fielding, the White House counsel, had not lined up a replacement for the attorney-general, but that he “knows all the potential choices”, he said.

Democrats described Mr Fielding’s offer as unsatisfactory, saying they want the witnesses under oath. But they also said they would consider it before formally responding.

”It is sort of giving us the opportunity to talk to them, but not giving us the opportunity to get to the bottom of what really happened here,” said Chuck Schumer, the New York senator. ”In that way, it is a pretty clever proposal.”

The Senate judiciary committee is to vote to authorise subpoenas on Thursday. It is particularly interested in Mr Rove because his former aide was named to replace one of the prosecutors fired last year.

Critics charge the administration dismissed the eight attorneys to make room for its allies or because it felt some were too tough on Republicans and not tough enough on Democrats.

Earlier on Tuesday, Democrats rejected a White House offer of making Mr Rove and Ms Miers available for private questioning by the Senate judiciary committee.

“After telling a bunch of different stories about why they fired the US attorneys, the Bush administration is not entitled to the benefit of the doubt,” said Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader.

“If Karl Rove plans to tell the truth, he has nothing to fear from being under oath like any other witness.”

Mr Bush’s language marks a serious deterioration in White House relations with the Hill after several months of both sides promising to create a climate of bipartisan co-operation. Few observers now believe that what little bipartisan rapport had been reached will be easy to retrieve.