"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
Senate Democrats, spurred by revelations that then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales pressured hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004 to approve a secret spying program, are stepping up a probe of the Justice Department.
Lawmakers today moved to challenge Gonzales on several fronts, including demanding the Justice Department turn over e- mails from White House political adviser Karl Rove. Also, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska joined about half a dozen Republicans in urging Gonzales to step down as attorney general.
``Alberto Gonzales puts his blind loyalty to the president above the rule of law,'' said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York. ``The Justice Department seems to reek of politicization'' beyond the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
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In a related development, the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded the Justice Department turn over any e-mails from Rove that concern the firing of the U.S. attorneys.
Two Days to Respond
Senators Patrick Leahy, the panel's chairman, and Arlen Specter, the senior Republican, gave the department two days to respond. The committee earlier subpoenaed the documents, and yesterday's deadline passed with no response from the agency, the senators said.
``You ignored the subpoena'' and ``did not even offer an explanation for your noncompliance,'' the senators wrote in a latter last night to Gonzales. ``The committee intends to get to the truth.''
Leahy, of Vermont, and Specter, of Pennsylvania, told Gonzales the Justice Department at least should have provided the committee with a written response explaining its refusal to comply.
The subpoena, issued by Leahy May 2, demanded all of Rove's e-mails in the Justice Department's possession that relate to the probe.
Labels: Bush Administration