Republicans Plot Contempt Strategy

Politico: As Dems Consider Resolution Vote, GOP Devises Public Relations Offensive

(The Politico)  By The Politico's John Bresnahan

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With House Democrats considering a floor vote on a contempt resolution against current and former White House aides, Republicans have begun privately plotting a public relations offensive designed to persuade the majority party to drop the issue and move on.

Top GOP leadership and Judiciary Committee staff held a strategy session Tuesday to discuss targeting conservative Democrats -- especially those who represent Republican-friendly districts -- with floor speeches, private lobbying and other efforts, if Democrats proceed with plans to hold top White House officials in contempt, according to participants in the meeting. Republicans called the emergency session after learning top Democrats were privately asking their members if they should force votes to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt for failing to provide testimony as part of congressional investigations.

Democratic leaders also circulated a “whip question” to the members of their caucus, asking if they would support the contempt resolution -- and the e-mail fell into GOP hands.

“A vote for these resolutions would direct the speaker to refer the criminal contempt charges to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who is required by law to present them to a grand jury,” the Democratic document said.

Committee Democrats want to question Miers, now back in private practice in Dallas, on the role of the White House in the sacking of nine U.S. attorneys last year. Bolten was subpoenaed as the official custodian of internal White House documents related to the prosecutor purge.

Republicans are not convinced Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic leaders will force a legal showdown over the twin issues of executive privilege and whether top aides to President Bush can be subpoenaed to testify before Congress, arguing that a Democrat-controlled Congress, and future Democratic presidents, would have too much to lose from such a confrontation.

In addition, GOP insiders believe that the uproar over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys last year, and the resulting congressional probe of the prosecutor purge, has not yielded any proof of criminal behavior within the Justice Department or the White House, although they acknowledge that it was a political disaster for the Bush administration. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a number of his top aides resigned from the Justice Department amid the public outcry over the firings, and Democrats have continued to investigate the Bush administration’s “politicization” of the department, including a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Democratic aides said a vote could come as early as next week. Pelosi’s office said no final decision has been made yet on whether there will actually be a vote or when it will take place if it does happen. The Judiciary Committee approved the contempt resolutions against Bolten and Miers back on July 25, but no further action has been taken since then.

Democratic leaders have begun privately whipping members to see if they would back such a resolution, and Democratic lawyers are trying to determine what would happen if the measure were approved by the House. While Democratic aides said that the overwhelming majority of lawmakers on their side of the aisle would vote for the criminal contempt resolution against Bolten and Miers, GOP aides said that moderate and conservative Democrats may rethink that position once Republicans begin hammering them on the topic.

“We’re planning for a very well-coordinated PR offensive if they actually do bring this up,” said Brian Kennedy, spokesman for Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Republicans see major flaws in the Democratic arguments for a contempt vote, including the risk of losing any court battle with the Bush administration over the issue of executive privilege.

“This is a reckless gamble, as it relates to the integrity of this Congress and the authority of future Congresses,” Kennedy said. A loss in a court fight with the White House -- in this case, over Bush’s refusal to allow current and former aides such as Bolten, Miers and Karl Rove to testify or turn over internal White House documents related to the prosecutor firings -- could well extend the right of future presidents to claim executive privilege when shielding their actions from Congress.

In addition, Republican leaders and members of the Judiciary Committee continue to argue, as the White House and Justice Department have, that there was “no criminal behavior” in the firings.

“While it was a nightmare, there has been no credible allegation of a criminal act committed by anyone,” said a GOP leadership aide, who added that the Democrats’ case was “built on hearsay and conjecture.”

Republicans will also claim that Democrats should not divert congressional attention from pressing legislative matters, such as the 2008 spending bills or energy reform, in order to pursue a political, divisive fight with Bush.

“Both parties stand to lose here, and so do the both the executive and legislative branches,” said one Republican aide close to the issue. “It’s really a huge problem if this moves forward and the House approves a contempt resolution.”

But House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) has been arguing both publicly and privately that the House must take up the contempt resolution or risk serious erosion in Congress’ ability to conduct effective oversight of the executive branch.

Democrats have also been playing up comments by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh to the House Judiciary Committee last week. Thornburgh, who served as attorney general under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, slammed the Justice Department for “selective prosecution” of corruption cases involving state and local Democrats.

“The citizens of the United States must have confidence that the department is conducting itself in a fair and impartial” manner, “without actual political influence or the appearance of political influence. Unfortunately, that may no longer be the case,” Thornburgh said.

However, it is still unclear at this time whether the House could even get to federal court on the matter, since the Justice Department may block Jeffrey A. Taylor, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who would represent Congress, from even moving forward with the case.

Solicitor General Paul Clement, in a June 27 letter to Bush evaluating the House and Senate subpoenas, said Justice Department officials believe “that Congress’ interests in the documents and related testimony would not be sufficient to override an executive privilege claim.”

Relying on this opinion, which was produced by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Gonzales had warned that he would not allow Taylor to bring a case against the Bush administration.

Former federal judge and current attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey, who was asked about the controversy during his recent confirmation hearings, declined to take a position one way or another, adding: “I hope and pray for a lot of things, and one of them is that I won’t have to make that decision.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee has encountered a similar refusal to persuade top White House officials to respond to subpoenas, including former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rove, who was the president’s top political adviser.

[jonesforch]

Me I say Ms Hillary answer a real question But very low ratings..one year and all they did was rename 42 post offices...me Im impressed....lord get a life.

[jack3213]

Congress has no other venues to contend with? They obviouslly aren''t smart or experianced enough to get their jobs done so they have to continue to badger and point fingers to distract away from their lack of abilities. If they move forward with this they will demean themselves entirely and you all who want to vote Democrat can kiss that vote mute. The games have just begun. Stupid is as stupid does.

[jack3213]

COngress has no other venues to contend with? They obviouslly aren''t smart or experiances enough to get their job9s) done so they have to continue to badger and point fingers to distract away from their lack of abilities. if they move forward with this they will demean themselves entirely and you all who want to vote Democrat can kiss that vote mute.

[rowdytexan2]

If they were acting within the law, why invoke executive privilege.

The president works for the people, not vice versa. Anything he does while in office is subject to public scrutiny. Even his sexual habits, apparently.

How can congress act on our behalf and impeach this bustward, if they don''t have access to the truth.

Actually, they already have the right to impeach him for lying to get the Congress to approve the ILLEGAL war and occupation of Iraq.

I''m with Vermont. Impeach him! Let''s just DO IT!

[kansas1946]

Democratic leaders also circulated a %u201Cwhip question%u201D to the members of their caucus, asking if they would support the contempt resolution -- and the e-mail fell into GOP hands.
********************************
LOL. I just love all of the Washington intrigue. Now how do you suppose this email "fell into Republican hands?" It is just funny all the shenanigans that go on in Washington at American''s expense.

[oldprophet]

You get the sense that the country is desperate for someone to show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50 years. Tens of thousands of them. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. Ron Paul has been married to the same woman for more than 50 years, which means he doesn''t come to the race with the sort of baggage some of the other candidates for the White House do. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. He was once a pious Lutheran, but now attends a Baptist church. He never travels alone with women, and once even dressed-down an aide for using the expression "red-light district" in front of a female colleague. I support the 2008 candidacy of Congressman, Ron Paul for President of The United States. Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and track record of adherance to The Constitution Ron Paul always demonstrates only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky. Go Ron!

[oldprophet]

Most Americans just don''t seem to care that our nation, along with the Constitution upon which it was founded, is being flushed-down the NWO toilet by our nations'' ruling elite. While the Oligarchs warn and insite fear in the sheeple about the prospect of terrorism, they at the same time leave our border wide open, and fund and conduct illegal wars overseas that do nothing but encite the terrorism which their Draconian Laws like the Patriot Act and The Real ID Act pretend to protect us from. Wake up America! It''s not about protecting you from terrorism, or saving our planet from Global Warming, or any of that fear-mongering garbage the sold-out, mainstream media feeds you 24/7. It''s about feeding the military industrial complex and facilitating the ruling elite''s ability to ratchet-down control over the American people, placing us into a total control grid where they can surveille, track and control everywhere we go and everything we do. It''s the groundwork for totalitarianism. It''s New World Order plan of Bush, Clinton, et.al., being executed quite beautifully. You''re a victim of mass mind control. I weep for my country, and for those of you who are so distracted, dumbed-down, or outright brainwashed by mainstream media, which endlessly regurgitates scientifically-crafted streams of information aimed at keeping your eyes closed to the realities of the world around you, that you fail to recognize this. Bring back freedom and liberty to this country. Vote for Ron Paul!

[realpatriot1]

mudrose,

There''s a very simple reason why Democrats can''t and won''t move on from this.

What the White House is trying to gloss over and Congress wants to bring out in the open was clearly spelled out in the testimony of Monica Goodling.

According to her sworn testimony, Tim Giffith(one of the appointed prosecutors) was involved in "vote caging" in Florida in 2004. That means he was involved in a scheme to rob American soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan of their right to vote, simply because they were African-American and likely to vote Democratic.

If we move on and sweep this under the rug I''m sure that will satisfy Republicans as much as Gore''s 2000 concession and Kerry''s 2004 reneging on his pledge to challenge for every vote.

I can understand why Republicans would want to move on from this as quickly as possible. No sense in letting public officials testify under oath where they will be compelled to tell the truth. Better to let them hold fake news conferences, doctor intelligence, lie in the State of the Union, and look for any opportunity to speak where they won''t be under oath and can lie as much as they ant and not be held accountable.

Hopefully, Democrats won''t roll over again and let your party steal another election.

[toldyouso21]

"This is a reckless gamble, as it relates to the integrity of this Congress and the authority of future Congresses,%u201D Kennedy said."

Kennedy is wrong here. The American people have watched both Republicans and Democrats preside over Bush''s tenure and have concluded that neither party has integrity and at least one has no honor (Republicans) and the other no true convictions (democrats) both parties stink.

[antoniof123]

I say do it if they try a smear tactic you know the one swift boating that will go down in history as another smear tactic by the GOP (greed over principle) they may not like the results.

[prinzowhales]

Let''s all enjoy the coming rollover by the Pelosi-ites. She and her Israel-first, faux-Bush opponents, lied to the American people regarding the war...they lied regarding impeachment...they lied and betrayed... expect them to make a mountain out of a mole hill...and mole hills out of mountains as they confront the obvious corruption and evil of the Washington Regime...But, don''t worry...John Conyers with his ''We''ll draft every child''s arse''-program for indentured servitude for war and make work will get the eager support of Republicans....Where''s the impeachment John!!?? You d*mned lying b*stard!

[mudrose-2009]

More of the same *********. These people simply cannot move on. I believe they are truly brain dead. A sign of intelligence is the ability to learn from prior mistakes. These people will push the envelope on Executive Privilege until they turn blue and will not succeed.

[taotxzen]

From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . .
In Sometimes-Brusque ''Snowflakes,'' He Shared Worldview, Shaped Policy

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007; A01

In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld argued that Muslims avoid ''physical labor'' and wrote of the need to ''keep elevating the threat,'' ''link Iraq to Iran'' and develop ''bumper sticker statements'' to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war.