http://harpers.org/archive/2008/06/hbc-90003026Pressure Mounts on Karl RoveBy Scott Horton
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Karl Rove has no hesitation in issuing carefully contrived non-denial denials when he discusses these matters in the media. He generally takes care to appear only on his home turf, on Fox News or in publications like the G.O.P. message-true Birmingham News. But recently, in an appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Rove was asked whether he had contacted the Justice Department about the Siegelman case. He responded, “I found out about Don Siegelman’s investigation and indictment by reading about it in the newspaper.” It was a typically Rovian contrived non-response, designed to convey the impression that he was answering in the negative without actually doing so. But this time, Stephanopoulos called him on it, challenging him to answer the question directly. Revealingly, Rove bumbled for several minutes, but steadfastly refused to give a straight answer. Watch the clip here:
VIDEO AT LINK
The case against Rove has recently been bolstered by a surprising source. Scott McClellan, who as White House press secretary was apparently called upon to disseminate Rovian falsehoods a few times too many, has tried to set the record straight in his new book, What Happened. In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday, McClellan made plain that Rove had lied to him about his role in the Valerie Plame matter, causing him to make false statements to the press about the role Rove played. McClellan went on to state that Bush should have kept his promise to fire the Plame leaker by sacking Karl Rove. What emerges from McClellan’s portrait is a Karl Rove who plays fast and loose with the criminal justice system and who misleads the press regularly about his own dealings, usually picking surrogates as the vehicles for his more preposterous misstatements. And that, of course, is precisely the charge that former Governor Siegelman has very convincingly laid at Rove’s doorstep.
Today’s
New York Times takes a look at the Rove-Siegelman business and comes to the obvious conclusion: Karl Rove needs to be sworn and subjected to rigorous interrogation before an appropriate Congressional oversight committee. And in this case, that means the House Judiciary Committee, which is probing allegations of politically manipulated prosecution and has already found a mound of evidence.
Mr. Rove, who has traded in his White House job for that of talking head, talked a lot but didn’t answer the question. He also did not directly deny being involved. The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed him to testify. It should do everything in its power to see that he does and that he answers all of its questions.
The House has the inherent power to arrest and hold a person who flouts its subpoenas. It’s an authority that hasn’t been used for decades. But Karl Rove offers the best case in recent memory for dusting off this power and putting it to use. The issues at stake are enormous. They include the integrity of the criminal justice process and the notion that the Congress can use the powers the Constitution vests in it to examine serious misconduct in the Executive Branch. At present, the Justice Department has reached its modern reputational low point, and the Congress is widely perceived as a constitutional hood ornament. Resolve and action are long past due.
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