House Judiciary Committee subpoenas Karl Rove

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich) issued a subpoena to Karl Rove on Thursday as part of an investigation into improprieties at the Department of Justice.

According to a statement from Conyers, Rove's lawyer Robert Luskin informed the chairman that his client would not agree to testify voluntarily before the committee.

"It is unfortunate that Mr. Rove has failed to cooperate with our requests," Conyers said in a statement.

"Although he does not seem the least bit hesitant to discuss these very issues weekly on cable television and in the print news media, Mr. Rove and his attorney have apparently concluded that a public hearing room would not be appropriate. Unfortunately, I have no choice today but to compel his testimony on these very important matters."

The deadline for Rove to respond to the subpoena is July 10.

If he appears, Rove is expected to face questions on the White House's role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and the prosecution of former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama.

Democrats have pushed hard to get senior White House officials, including Rove, to testify on the prosecutor purge and other issues, only to be rebuffed or run into legal challenges from the Bush administration and Justice Department.

For instance, House Judiciary has approved criminal and civil contempt citations against former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten seeking information on the U.S. attorney firings. The two officials, citing an executive privilege claim by President Bush, had refused to comply with the panel's subpoenas. DOJ refused to bring a criminal contempt case against Miers and Bolten, so othe Judiciary Committee filed a civil contempt lawsuit against them.

The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Rove on the U.S. attorney firings, but citing Bush's privilege claim, he refused to appear. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has declined to bring a criminal contempt citation to the Senate floor.

House Republicans have repeatedly dismissed the Democrats' subpoenas as political stunts, including the Rove subpoena today. They note that White House Counsel Fred Fielding has offered to allow Rove, Miers and other top Bush aides to be interviewed by the committee, but only behind closed doors and with no trancript of the conversation being kept.

“Mr. Rove voluntarily offered information that was requested, but Judiciary Committee Democrats refused his offer, proving once again that they are not really interested in the facts." said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), ranking member of Judiciary, in a statement released today. "Therefore, Committee Republicans will demand that Jill Simpson—who has made unfounded accusations against Karl Rove—be called to testify at the hearing. In the meantime, Committee Republicans will accept Mr. Rove's offer of voluntary information, choosing responsible oversight over partisan games."

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