R
Roger
Guest
White House Aide Won't Answer Questions of a Senate Panel
By NEIL A. LEWIS
August 3, 2007
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - J. Scott Jennings, a 29-year-old White House aide,
refused repeatedly on Thursday to answer questions before the Senate
Judiciary Committee, saying he was under orders from President Bush not to
respond.
"I must respectfully decline to respond at this time," Mr. Jennings said
about a dozen times to questions about the White House's role in the
dismissals of federal prosecutors. Each time Mr. Jennings was asked about
the removals, he looked at a sheet of paper and said in a rote manner that
he could not reply, "pursuant to President Bush's directive invoking
executive privilege."
His appearance before the committee was the latest act in the ripening
showdown between the White House and Congressional Democrats over the issue
of executive privilege.
Mr. Jennings's explanation was treated scornfully by the committee's
Democrats, who said they did not accept Mr. Bush's assertion that he has the
authority to prevent former and present officials from testifying to
Congress.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, called the
assertion "a bogus claim."
Mr. Leahy was especially withering in his criticism of an earlier claim by
Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel, that Mr. Jennings's boss, Karl
Rove, had an even greater claim to the privilege. Mr. Fielding wrote that as
a senior official who has regular access to the president, Mr. Rove had
complete immunity from questioning by Congress.
Mr. Rove had been subpoenaed to answer questions at Thursday's session, but
did not appear. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, suggested
that Mr. Rove had left it to Mr. Jennings to take the committee's heat.
"Why is he hiding?" Mr. Durbin asked. "Why does he throw a young staffer
like you into the line of fire while he hides behind the White House
curtains?"
Committees in both the House and the Senate are investigating whether there
was any improper political influence in the dismissals last year of several
federal prosecutors and have sought to determine Mr. Rove's role in the
deliberations.
Although the issue has split Congress largely along party lines, Senator
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee's ranking Republican, has
criticized the White House approach. Mr. Specter said at the Thursday
hearing that it was important to move ahead with the investigation because
he believed it would end with the resignation of Attorney General Alberto R.
Gonzales, in whom he expressed a lack of confidence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/washington/03attorneys.html
By NEIL A. LEWIS
August 3, 2007
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - J. Scott Jennings, a 29-year-old White House aide,
refused repeatedly on Thursday to answer questions before the Senate
Judiciary Committee, saying he was under orders from President Bush not to
respond.
"I must respectfully decline to respond at this time," Mr. Jennings said
about a dozen times to questions about the White House's role in the
dismissals of federal prosecutors. Each time Mr. Jennings was asked about
the removals, he looked at a sheet of paper and said in a rote manner that
he could not reply, "pursuant to President Bush's directive invoking
executive privilege."
His appearance before the committee was the latest act in the ripening
showdown between the White House and Congressional Democrats over the issue
of executive privilege.
Mr. Jennings's explanation was treated scornfully by the committee's
Democrats, who said they did not accept Mr. Bush's assertion that he has the
authority to prevent former and present officials from testifying to
Congress.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, called the
assertion "a bogus claim."
Mr. Leahy was especially withering in his criticism of an earlier claim by
Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel, that Mr. Jennings's boss, Karl
Rove, had an even greater claim to the privilege. Mr. Fielding wrote that as
a senior official who has regular access to the president, Mr. Rove had
complete immunity from questioning by Congress.
Mr. Rove had been subpoenaed to answer questions at Thursday's session, but
did not appear. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, suggested
that Mr. Rove had left it to Mr. Jennings to take the committee's heat.
"Why is he hiding?" Mr. Durbin asked. "Why does he throw a young staffer
like you into the line of fire while he hides behind the White House
curtains?"
Committees in both the House and the Senate are investigating whether there
was any improper political influence in the dismissals last year of several
federal prosecutors and have sought to determine Mr. Rove's role in the
deliberations.
Although the issue has split Congress largely along party lines, Senator
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee's ranking Republican, has
criticized the White House approach. Mr. Specter said at the Thursday
hearing that it was important to move ahead with the investigation because
he believed it would end with the resignation of Attorney General Alberto R.
Gonzales, in whom he expressed a lack of confidence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/washington/03attorneys.html
