Rove, Miers Will Testify Over U.S. Attorney Firings

Former Bush aides Karl Rove and Harriet Miers have agreed to testify before Congress under oath concerning the firings of U.S. attorneys, allegedly for political reasons, during the Bush administration.

The two will testify before the House Judiciary Committee in transcribed depositions. They may or may not be called for public testimony.

The White House Counsel’s office played an active role in bringing the parties together towards an accommodation, an official told CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.

UPDATE: Rove said Thursday morning that some Democrats would like to see him "barbecued." (Read more.)

Knoller reports that the key to the agreement was that the Obama White House stopped short of acknowledging that "executive privilege" still applied to Rove and Miers -- though the House Judiciary statement says "it was agreed that invocations of official privileges would be significantly limited."

Before President Bush left office, his counsel Fred Fielding instructed Rove that he was bound by executive privilege and could not testify.

“Today’s agreement between the House Committee and the former Administration is the product of a tremendous amount of hard work, patience, and flexibility on both sides,” White House Counsel Greg Craig said. “The agreement will allow the Committee to complete its investigation into the U.S. Attorneys matter and it will do so in the way such disputes have historically been resolved – through negotiation and accommodation between the legislative and executive branches."

Rove's lawyer Robert Luskin called the agreement "good news." He told Knoller that Rove "did not assert any personal privilege" and the agreement supersedes the instructions Rove received before Mr. Bush left office to claim executive privilege in response to the subpoena.

Luskin said a representative of former Mr. Bush, Emmet Flood, took part in the negotiations with House Judiciary Committee and the Obama White House.

"We did not have a dog in this hunt, but we are delighted," Luskin told CBS News.

To make the agreement legal, the Department Of Justice and the committee will be filing a motion tonight to stay litigation over whether the two could be forced to testify, reports CBS News producer Stephanie Lambidakis.