Rove and Miers have cut a deal for their testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
It will be done behind closed doors, no cameras, they will not take an oath, but they will be
suject to perjury if they’re caught lying. A transcript will be made of the proceedings. Rove and Miers seem to insist they will not be compelled to come back before the Committe to answer questions in public, but Conyers says otherwise (I think) on this particular point.
Questions:
1.How could they get such preferential treatment?
2.What do Rove and Miers gain with these concessions – particularly the no oath business?
3.Will the transcript be made public?
Which makes it that much more likely that they will never be prosecuted for their role in the attorney firings, or for any of the other crimes that they committed.
"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."
I do not get all the deal making either. I guarantee you none of us would get such treatment. We’d be told to show up and that’d be the end of it. Rove is just Joe Citizen now and no different than any of us and gets no special protection.
I get really sick of the rules being different for these people.
Rove and Miers were members of the executive branch of government. The testimony will be before the legislature. There is a legal controversy over how much power the legislature has over the executive. Neither side wants a lawsuit because they do not want to risk losing. Barry O does not want to give up power to the legislature but his supporters want Rove and Miers humiliated for doing the unforgivable. This compromise allows both sides to save face and not get the courts involved. This is about seperation of powers, not partisanship.
I think it goes beyond that. If it were only a spat about separation of powers, then it could just be chalked up to misinterpretation and/or “shit happens”. I think what is going on behind the scenes is more along the lines of the limits of power, and possible abuse of power.