therawstory

by Larisa Alexandrova



House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued a subpoena Thursday to former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for testimony about politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the case of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, who was jailed for bribery in what was widely seen as a political prosecution.



The subpoena comes on the heels of a letter from Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, who told the Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the president’s former top advisor would refuse to testify voluntarily.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Rove has failed to cooperate with our requests,” Conyers said in a release. “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.”

Reacting to the news on NBC, correspondent Pete Williams said that the Justice Department most likely won’t enforce the subpoena.

Separately, Chairman Conyers recently received a letter from DOJ’s Office of Professional Responibility (OPR) indicating that the office has opened an investigation into allegations of selective prosecution of Siegelman and others.

The subpoena issued Thursday orders Rove to testify before the House panel on July 10. He is expected to face questions about the White House’s role in firing nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, a Democrat.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers had negotiated with Rove’s attorneys for more than a year over whether the former top political adviser to President Bush would testify voluntarily.

(Source)