Baucus Wants Gonzales To Explain Justice Dept. Position On Prisoner-witnesses

 As if he doesn't have enought problems already, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is still angry with the Justice Department over DOJ's attempt to block a federal prisoner from testifying before his panel last month, and he wants Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to promise to never do it again.

“I want to know whether the Justice Department’s attempt to obstruct a congressional hearing was a one-shot mistake, or a standing rejection of judges’ power to produce witnesses for congressional committees,” said Baucus in a release today. “Considering all the trouble that the Justice Department took to stop testimony for a hearing on tax filing season, it’s important to know if Congress should expect this kind of opposition again.”