Rove is a no-show at Senate Judiciary, Jennings declines to say much

The Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the firing of nine U.S. attorneys last year went on as scheduled this morning, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) used the session to bash Karl Rove for not showing up.

J. Scott Jennings, the deputy director of the White House political affairs offices, did make an appearance, however, although he provided Democrats with little new information on the prosecutor purge, relying on an assertion by President Bush of executive privilege to decline to answer numerous specific questions.

Rove and Jennings had been subpoenaed by the panel to testify on what they knew about the prosecutor purge. The fact that Jennings was there and Rove wasn't was seized on by Leahy and the Democrats as a sign of White House inconsistency on the issue.

"Mr. Jennings appearance shows that the White House's newly minted claim of 'immunity' for White House employees is a sham," Leahy said. "How can White House employees like Karl Rove speak publicly about these matters one day but declare that he cannot in any way be held accountable to the American people and their duly elected representatives in Congress on the same matter?"

Jennings, for his part, said he was "caught in the middle of a constitutional struggle between two branches of government -- quite literally between a rock and a hard place. One the one hand, I am appearing before this committee pursuant to a subpoena that compels me to answer questions concerning the dismissal and replacement of U.S. attorneys. On the other hand, I have received a letter from the White House counsel asserting the president''s claim of executive privilege over the very subject matter of the committee's subpoena."

Jennings said Bush executive-privilege claim made him "unable at this time to answer any questions concerning White House consideration, deliberations, or communications related to the U.S. attorneys matter, regardless of whether specific documents or conversations may have already been discussed publicly by others. To do otherwise would directly violate the president's order."

Jennings then went on to assert executive privilege more than 20 times, refusing to answer any questions by Leahy or Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) or Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) on his role in the firings.

Jennings was pressed repeatedly on the dismissal of David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney in New Mexico. Jennings helped set up a meeting between several New Mexico Republicans and a top Justice Dept. official. During that meeting, complaints about Iglesias' performance were raised. Sen. Pete Domenici (D-N.M.) is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee over phone calls he made to Iglesias during which he asked the former prosecutor about a corruption probe involving some local Democrats. The House ethics committee has also interviewed Iglesias on a similar call he received from Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.). Iglesias has testified that he felt the calls were improper.

Even though Schumer and other Democrats had an e-mail from Jennings to Monica Goodling, the former White House liaison for the Justice Dept. asking for a meeting with some New Mexico Republicans on Iglesias, Jennings declined to answer the question.

Democrats also pressed Jennings on why he used e-mail accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee to conduct officials business. Jennings denied that the practice was an attempt to evade presidential record-keeping requirements, describing it as a matter of "convenience" since he never received a BlackBerry device for his White House e-mail account and had numerous messages to respond to during very hectic days.

Schumer, clearly unsatisfied by Jennings' testimony, accused him of asserting privilege to duck difficult questions, such as his role in Iglesias' firing, stating that Jennings was trying to "hide behind a false wall of privilege."

Republicans, for their part, either criticized the now eight-month-old investigation as a partisan attempt to hurt Bush or said the probe should wrap up quickly so that the committee can go onto other business.

"This investigation needs to be completed," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), ranking member of the committee. Specter has supported Leahy on many aspects of the investigation, but has complained that Democrats and the White House are refusing to compromise on an agreement that would allow senior administration aides to testify on the matter behind closed doors. Specter has predicted that the issue would end up in federal court if the Democrats try to move a contempt citation against Rove or other White House officials for failing to answer the committee's subpoenas.