Ok then, let's get this constitutional crisis party started

anybody who didn't see this coming, please raise your hand... hey, you... over there in the corner... wake up and pay attention... i asked you a question...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Norway on Thursday appears to have rejected Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-CA) subpoena compelling her to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the intelligence used to build the case for the Iraq war, according to the Associated Press.

In a press briefing in Oslo, according to the AP's Matthew Lee, Rice took the opportunity to state directly for the first time that she didn't see her testimony as necessary.

"I think I have more than answered these questions, and answered them directly to Congressman Waxman," she told reporters.

The Secretary of State also invoked executive privilege as a reason for not testifying.

after a few errands in town this morning, i'll be sure to stop on the way home to pick up an extra stock of popcorn...

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Push, push, push on the Bush

woo-hoo...! 3 (count 'em, 3) subpoenas... now that they're approved, will they be issued...?

"We have hit a brick wall with the Secretary of State," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). "She will not propose a date to testify, she will not agree to testify, and she insists that our Committee be satisfied with partial information that was previously submitted to other committees."

Waxman's remark came in a fractious hearing on issuing three subpoenas. One sought Rice's testimony on May 15 concerning the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq. The other two concerned the deletion of e-mails on accounts supplied the Republican National Committee and used by White House employees, as well as RNC documents concerning the use of the General Services Administration to assist Republican political efforts.

All three subpoenas were agreed to by the Committee.

while, as committee chair, waxman has the power to unilaterally approve and issue the subpoenas, he opened the matter to full committee debate and vote...

"Under the rules of this Committee, the Chairman has the power to issue subpoenas without debate or votes in the Committee. That is what Dan Burton used to do. In fact, that is what he did over 1,000 times," he said. "But I am taking a different approach today. I believe the entire Committee should have a chance to participate in the subpoenas we will consider today."

push, push, push on the bush...

[UPDATE]

according to this ap account, a subpoena will be issued to rice...

By 21-10, the House oversight committee voted to issue a subpoena to Rice...

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Condi has more important things to do than to be held accountable

this ought to be interesting...

[A]Republican Congressman sent out an "action alert" claiming that "we've gotten word that Waxman will issue a subpoena to Secretary Rice tomorrow morning," adding that such a move could allow the GOP to show how Democrats are "trying to win the political war for themselves no matter its effect on America’s efforts to promote peace and democracy abroad."

"I can only assume that members of Congress would rather have the secretary of State be focused on issues of war and peace," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in a press briefing today, and then listed her obligations over the next month.

He added, "So she can be doing those things, or she can be testifying before Chairman Waxman's committee about an issue that has been about as investigated as an issue can possibly be investigated."

"as investigated as an issue can possibly be investigated...?" not really... i don't believe an investigation that fails to come up with the truth can be considered thorough...

"Congressman Waxman has had a series of questions for Secretary Rice, and we started out at the -- some 50-plus questions. I think we've narrowed it down to about three, and we will be providing a response to those last three questions, I expect, later this afternoon to Chairman Waxman and his committee," [McCormack] added.

there's a vast difference between responding to questions in writing and responding to them in person... if there was ever a definitive case study of that fact, one only has to go back to last thursday and review gonzales' truly pathetic performance before the senate judiciary committee...

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Fine... Do it... Let's get it ALL on the table...

as a concerned citizen who has watched my country progressively going downhill for a long, long time, well before george and bill, i say, go for it...

"As Democrats gear up for a broad investigation of Republican e-mail accounts, GOP staff warn that the issue could come back to haunt Democrats, as the minority is looking for ways to extend the issue into Democratic e-mails as well," Paul Singer and Rachel Van Dongen write for Roll Call.

The paper reports, that "Brian McNicoll, a spokesman for Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans, warned that if Democrats want to broadly investigate the use of party e-mail accounts by administration officials, Republicans could extend this investigation back to the end of the Clinton administration as well."

"If you can go back through five years of e-mails, you can go back 10 years of e-mails,” McNicoll is quoted as saying. "The Clinton administration was doing this too — they were using e-mail accounts that were outside the presidential records system."

of course this was issued as a threat but i think it's a wonderful idea... if we're going to undertake the national cleansing we so desperately need, let's do it right and let the chips fall where they may...

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Waxman's efforts get some unexpected, heavy-duty support

very good news...

[T]he Office of Special Counsel is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.

First, the inquiry comes from inside the administration, not from Democrats in Congress. Second, unlike the splintered inquiries being pressed on Capitol Hill, it is expected to be a unified investigation covering many facets of the political operation in which Rove played a leading part.

"We will take the evidence where it leads us," Scott J. Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel and a presidential appointee, said in an interview Monday. "We will not leave any stone unturned."

in the blinding-glimpse-of-the-obvious questions department, why the hell has it taken them 6+ years to smell the shitpile that has been accumulating outside rove's west wing office...?

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White House refuses to cooperate with mandated information security inspections

i posted earlier on henry waxman's letter to andrew card seeking card's cooperation in testifying voluntarily before the oversight committee regarding a suspected "systemic failure" on the part of the white house to safeguard classified information...



emptywheel at the next hurrah took the extra step of actually READING waxman's letter and came up with this even more staggering bit of information...



this seems to me like it's getting more serious by the minute... waxman's letter cites numerous extremely troubling instances, so troubling, in fact, that i have to wonder not only what in holy hell is going on but also how in hell do they think they can get away with it... it's well worth reading in full...

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Go, Henry...!!

(this post is as much to tweak section9's nose as it is to report on waxman's latest inquiry...)

The head of the House Committee on Oversight and Governance Reform warned today of a "systematic failure" in basic security procedures as well as the safeguarding of classified information in the White House of President George W. Bush.

"Multiple current and former White House security personnel have informed my staff that White House practices have been dangerously inadequate with respect to investigating security violations, taking corrective action following breaches, and physically securing classified information," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card today.

Waxman sought Card's cooperation in his probe of a "systematic breakdown" in White House security procedures.

i'm glad this is being followed up... after knodell's revelations at the scooter libby trial, and the recent disclosure that rnc servers were routinely used by numerous white house staff for official government communications, any it director would (and should) be crapping little green apples... the fact that it involves the white house and therefore the country's most sensitive classified information, is deeply troubling...

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Do you hear those footsteps, Condi? They're comin' for ya...

you've been trying to lay low and let it all blow over, but, guess what...? it ain't blowin' over... dust off them ferragamos, kiddo... you may have to do some walkin' pretty soon...

Depending on the State Department's response to a request for information prior to a Wednesday meeting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could face a subpoena from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, RAW STORY has learned. The move could compel Rice to testify on the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq, and other issues.

"On the 18th, we may hold a business meeting, but that is contingent on whether or not we receive requested information from her,"an Oversight Committee staff member told RAW STORY.

The committee staff member added, "If we do not get the information from the State Department prior to Wednesday, the business meeting may take up the question of issuing a subpoena."

the doj just kissed off a document subpoena deadline, the secretary of state declines to provide requested information... what's with these people...? you'd think they were hiding something...

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!

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Business as usual for the political party that calls itself a presidential administration

and the hits just keep on comin', right here on all scandal, all the time...

Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates.

With GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan and up to 40 regional administrators on hand, J. Scott Jennings, the White House's deputy director of political affairs, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Jan. 26 of polling data about the 2006 elections.

When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they could "help 'our candidates' in the next elections," according to a March 6 letter to Doan from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Waxman said in the letter that one method suggested was using "targeted public events, such as the opening of federal facilities around the country."

this "oversight" thing sure turns up some interesting stuff...

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She's lucky she hasn't been assassinated

until you've spent time walking the streets of another country, particularly a country in the developing world, you have no idea what it feels like to be truly exposed and vulnerable... it's not like you aren't exposed and vulnerable when you're in the u.s., but at least you can rely on a semblance of law and order and, hopefully, until bush and his buddies wipe it out completely, due process... but in a foreign country, you're pretty much on your own, and whatever happens, happens... you're basically SOL...

"I was a covert officer for the CIA," Plame said, until her cover was blown in a July of 2003 article by conservative columnist Robert Novak. Plame testified that her "career path was terminated prematurely" due to the revelation, because she could no longer do the work that she was trained to do, such as traveling overseas.

Plame said that her "name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the White House and State Department."

"Politics and ideology must be stripped from our intelligence services," Plame said, after accusing Bush Administration officials of releasing personal information about her deliberately in order to damage the credibility of her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson. "The harm that is done when a CIA cover is blown is great," Plame added.

Plame said that she was "surprised at how carelessly" White House officials had acted in regards to her cover, and said that her exposure left her feeling like she was "hit in the gut"

"They should have been diligent in protecting me and every CIA officer," Plame testified.

i would surmise that valerie's opportunities to enjoy vacations outside the u.s. are now about nil...

naturally, we have fox doing its level best to spin and discredit testimony given under oath...

During its coverage of the hearing, Fox News Channel cut down the sound to feature commentary by Novak who labeled Plame's contention that she was a "covert operator" as "absurd." Novak also brought up Plame's political contributions to the Democratic Party, to imply that she was partisan.

novak really ought to look into cryogenic preservation... if he could be brought back in 50 or 60 years, he would be a genuine fossil, and the subject of much public interest... right now, he's just another senile, empty suit...

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Patrick Fitzgerald's ethics

fitz is such an impressive guy... it's entirely the right thing to do to turn down a request to testify...

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has turned down requests from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to testify on the Valerie Plame leak case. Fitzgerald said he did “not believe it would be appropriate for me to offer opinions…about the ultimate responsibility of senior White House officials for the disclosure of Ms. Wilson’s identity.”

i trust, however, he would have no qualms about turning over "sealed vs. sealed..."

(thanks to think progress...)

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Undermining constitutional governance by not responding to minority party requests

well, i guess... 11 letters ignored since 2003...? that looks like undermining to me...

The Chairman of the House's Oversight and Government Reform Committee today demanded that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice respond to 11 outstanding requests for information sent by his office since 2003. The letters primarily concerned claims later proved erroneous on the threat posed to the United States by Saddam Hussein's government in the run up to the Iraq War.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) warned Dr. Rice that a failure to respond to his committee's inquiries undermined Constitutional governance.

"Refusing to allow officials to testify before Congress...or ignoring congressional requests for information, as you apparently ignored my inquiries, are not consistent with our constitutional system of government," said the Committee's Chairman in a letter released today.

along with the story comes this interesting factoid...

The California Democrat also explained that he had sent Dr. Rice 16 inquiries since 2003. But only 5 of the letters that were also signed by committee Republicans had received responses because "Under the Bush Administration, several agencies followed a policy of not responding to minority party requests," he stated.

the arrogance of the bush administration is breathtaking...

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