Isikoff: Rove may testify in prosecutor's Attorneygate probe David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Published: Thursday December 4, 2008





Print This Email This One of the biggest blockades to potential revelations regarding the Bush administration's politicization of the Justice Department has been the refusal of officials like Karl Rove and Harriet Miers to testify before Congressional committees investigating the matter.



That stonewalling may soon end, now that an independent federal prosecutor is probing the dismissal of nine US Attorneys, among other facets of the Justice Department scandal.



The White House has said they plan to cooperate with the special prosecutor's probe, dropping their reliance on the executive privilege claims they have used to stymie Congress, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff tells MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.



The two were discussing prosecutor Nora Dannehy's investigation, which was explored in a Wednesday Washington Post article. The paper reported that Dannehy has issued several subpoenas in the case and met with defense lawyers representing the government officials suspected of misconduct.



Isikoff told Maddow of a little-noticed letter sent from the Justice Department to a US Appeals Court, which is considering an attempt by the House of Representatives to pursue Contempt of Congress charges against Bush administration officials who have ignored subpoenas. In the Sept. 30 letter, Isikoff says, the Justice Department tells the court of assurances it received from White House counsel Fred Fielding that if Dannehy "determines that access to information from the White House would be helpful to assist her review, the White House will provide her with such information."



That's an encouraging sign for those hoping for more answers about the firings.



"So they're essentially saying they're not going to claim privilege over key information that Nora Dannehy may want," Isikoff said. "Harriet Miers and Karl Rove's testimony? According to this letter, they're not going to claim privilege over information that she determines she needs."





This video is from MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast Dec. 3, 2008.









Download video via RawReplay.com







