Conyers Subpoenas Rove For Third Time

Slams attorney in accompanying letter, refuses request for further delay...

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U.S. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has subpoenaed Karl Rove today, yet again (the third time, for those keeping score at home), to give sworn, public testimony before the committee on February 23rd concerning the politicization of the U.S. Dept. of Justice during the Bush Administration.

Today’s subpoena was sent to Rove’s attorney Robert D. Luskin. It’s accompanied by a brief, two-page letter [PDF] in which the Congressman politely refuses a request by the attorney to delay Rove’s appearance, yet again. The previous subpoena required Rove’s appearance on Feb. 2nd, but was delayed at his request and rescheduled for the 23rd at that time.

Following the previous subpoena, Rove told Fox “News” that he would refuse to testify, and committee member Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) responded on MSNBC by saying that he would either testify, or go to jail.

At the end of today’s letter, refusing Luskin’s request for further delay, Conyers, rather amusingly, notes:

[G]iven Mr. Rove’s public statements that he does not intend to comply with the subpoena, I am puzzled as to why Mr. Rove needs a mutually convenient date to fail to appear.

RAW STORY’s John Byrne reports that request for comment from Luskin was responded to with an auto-reply email stating that Luskin would “be out of the office and unable to check emails or voicemails until February 23, 2009.”

UPDATE 2/14/09: “White House counsel Gregory Craig issued a statement late Friday encouraging former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove to cut a deal with Congress, an indication the new administration has begun to put pressure on President George W. Bush’s former chief adviser.” More details…

UPDATE 2/16/09: “Representatives of the Bush White House are no longer advising former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove that he is protected by executive privilege as regards testimony about the alleged political prosecution of an Alabama governor.

“In an exchange with Raw Story, Rove’s Washington, D.C. attorney, Robert Luskin, also said Rove won’t invoke his Fifth Amendment right to protect himself from self-incrimination, if and when he testifies about the firing of nine US Attorneys and the prosecution of the former governor.” More details…

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Conyers Subpoenas Rove For Third Time

35 Comments

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35 Responses

  1. 1)
    czaragorn said on 2/13/2009 @ 10:55am PT: [Permalink]

    If this isn’t a clear-cut case of Inherent Contempt I’ll eat my Red Sox hat. Arrest Porky and incarcerate him until he’s ready to sing!

  2. 2)
    cann4ing said on 2/13/2009 @ 11:06am PT: [Permalink]

    Conyers’s response to Luskin’s request for yet another continuance is classic. After pointing out that the Feb. 23 date was provided to accommodate Luskin’s prior request for a continuance, Conyers points to Rove’s public statements that he did not intend to abide by the subpoena, then adds: “I am puzzled as to why Mr. Rove needs a mutually convenient date to fail to appear.”

  3. 3)
    karen from illinois said on 2/13/2009 @ 11:32am PT: [Permalink]

    i was up late last night watching msnbc,they were covering the plane crash in ny….their was a guy on who had taken 100s of pictures,including pics of 2 houses nearly destroyed by the crash and he said “these are before the house it landed on”

    he also had talked to 7-9 eye witnesses that said the plane was on fire in the air

    today on the news the story is changed,repeatedly they r saying only 1 house was hit,and the debis feild is compact…the exact opposite of what was reported last night

    when i heard about the crash my first thought was,who was on that plane?

    turns out a 9-11 activist that was calling for a complete investigation and an expert on the genocide in rwanda were passengers

    while i admit i am overly suspious because of 99s interest in 9-11 i wanted u regs to know what i saw last night and wondered if anyone else saw the early reports

  4. 4)
    John Adams said on 2/13/2009 @ 1:29pm PT: [Permalink]

    Conspiracy….Icing is clearly the culprit, although Colgan Air has had two previous Beech 1900 accidents due to thier maint. problems.

    I would suggest a breath of fresh air and lay off the herb

  5. 5)
    NYCartist said on 2/13/2009 @ 3:54pm PT: [Permalink]

    On Karl Rove and subpoenas (egads, am I learning how to spell it?): is Las Vegas making odds on this contest?

  6. 8)
    Ancient said on 2/13/2009 @ 4:21pm PT: [Permalink]

    Ain’t lie berr man an asshole extrodinare,
    but as Valentine’s is on the horizon…LOVE CAN’T WE DO BETTER?

  7. 9)
    hearya said on 2/13/2009 @ 4:39pm PT: [Permalink]

    Conyers is feeling his wheaties on this one. You go, Senator! The payoff will be Rove in handcuffs if he forgets to show up. What does he think he is, a greased pig? He’s not slipping out of this one, unless he goes offshore. Fight it if you must, Rove. You can have the cell next to mAnn Coulter, and stay a lot longer.

  8. 10)
    Lottakatz said on 2/13/2009 @ 4:49pm PT: [Permalink]

    John Adams:
    “Conspiracy….Icing is clearly the culprit, although Colgan Air has had two previous Beech 1900 accidents due to their maint. problems.

    I would suggest a breath of fresh air and lay off the herb ”

    I assume that’s directed to “karen from illinois”.
    I don’t know you or Karen but I take issue with your statement. I saw the original coverage of 9-11 as it unfolded, the missile strike of the Pentagon (missile strike is a considered characterization) and the coverage of the plane that went down (or not) in Pennsylvania. All real time coverage. I watched the statements and observations of the newsmen/women present (which reflected no more than what I was watching and thinking) reverse itself and at one point be apologized for.
    Obvious contradictions between my (apparently lying) eyes and the news accounts became the norm, the official story.
    And gee, I;m still surprised at how many small planes go down when they are carrying liberals and how many wrong-doers get that ol’ contrition and commit suicide just before they’re they testify.
    I think we-the-people will never know the full or honest story bout just about anything and if Karen’s first instinct is to look up who’s on the plane or at the end of the rope then good for her; she’s probably just told you more truth than you’ll ever get from the MSM or government.
    Implying the herbal cigarettes are in play is rude- she’s just being prudent.
    Nothing is off the table these days.

  9. 14)
    Agent 99 said on 2/13/2009 @ 5:34pm PT: [Permalink]

    Lotta, that’s okay, if I hadn’t spaced on that comment earlier, due to lack of coffee, not excess of herb, believe me, it would have been more strident by a few orders of magnitude.

    I want the shit to stop from the groupthink name-callers against truth. You can’t accuse people who grasp the laws of physics of being dopers or conspiracy nuts. Not here. I’m not going to put up with it!

    John Adams, do you hear me? Go post your insulting blather somewhere else. If you would like to provide links regarding Colgan Air’s purported maintenance problems and accidents due to them, great, but the tired old accusations of being a conspiracy nut or on dope or needing to get back on meds are completely unwelcome personal attacks, against the rules, and I’m so sick of that shit I’m going to start going as close to Zero Tolerance as possible without being completely unreasonable.

    Be warned.

  10. 16)
    Victoria Parks said on 2/13/2009 @ 5:56pm PT: [Permalink]

    Why has Conyers been pussyfooting around for sooooo long? I am tired of the drama. Congressman Conyers, please, just bring out the Sargeant at Arms. Arrest Rove and put him in the jail cell in the capital building. That is why it is there for God’s sake.

  11. 19)
    Lottakatz said on 2/13/2009 @ 9:02pm PT: [Permalink]

    “Ancient said on 2/13/2009 @ 4:24 pm PT…
    Hey LOTTAKATZ, do you watch Link TV”
    😉 No I don’t, haven’t heard of it but I’ll do the Google and find it to see what I’m missing. Thanks.

    “Agent 99 said on 2/13/2009 @ 4:34 pm PT…
    Lotta, that’s okay, if I hadn’t spaced on that comment earlier, due to lack of coffee, …”
    😉 Thanks, I don’t like to attack a statement that might have been a good-natured joke among the regulars (I haven’t been around as long as most of your posters) but I didn’t see a smiley face so… I’ve had a lot of coffee today and just made a fresh pot. I’ll mentally send you a cup. 😉

  12. 20)
    Billman said on 2/14/2009 @ 2:27am PT: [Permalink]

    3rd subpoena… Big deal.

    What’s next? A sternly worded letter?

    I am so tired of Conyers lack of real action.

  13. 22)
    Rich said on 2/14/2009 @ 9:53am PT: [Permalink]

    I agree with everything Czaragorn said in comment number one…except in my case, I’ll eat my Yankees hat..We fiannaly have common cause; what th hell “IS PORKY” (I like that) still doing hurling shitballs at the Consitution and the rule of law??????!!!!!!

  14. 23)
    Jeannie Dean said on 2/14/2009 @ 11:23am PT: [Permalink]

    LottaKatz~(#10)

    You took the words right out of my mouth n’ mind.
    Not too sternly worded at all. And thanks, 99. I’m hyper-tired of that bullsh*T, too. Gonna get a bumper sticker: ‘I’m a Conspiracy REALIST.’

  15. 24)
    Big Dan said on 2/14/2009 @ 11:37am PT: [Permalink]

    Karen from Illinois:

    ALSO…ALL the first reports said the crew radioed in “no problems”, and later stories started the “ICE” stories, where a federal official said “the crew discussed ICE”.

    How did this “federal official” know the crew discussed ICE, when all the initial reports said the crew radioed in “no problems”? Did this federal official have a special radio???

    How come no reporters asked the official: “All the stories said the crew radioed in ‘no problems’, now YOU just said the ‘crew discussed ICE’, how do you know that?”

  16. 25)
    Big Dan said on 2/14/2009 @ 11:38am PT: [Permalink]

    WHO said the “crew discussed ICE”, I want to know the name of that person(s), and ask them why they said nothing when the initial reports said the crew radioed in “no problems”.

  17. 26)
    Big Dan said on 2/14/2009 @ 11:42am PT: [Permalink]

    John Adams: NO ONE was talking about ICE until 4pm, when this “federal official” came out with “the crew discussed ICE”. I’m going to go out on a limb, and say you are a shill, because you accused a person, Karen from Illinios, asking a VERY legitimate question and making legitimate comments, of being high. That is the #1 tactic for shutting people up with legitimate questions – insinuate that they’re “nuts”. YOU are a SHILL. I’m going to be blunt: I hate people like you!!! You offer NOTHING, except to call someone “nuts” because you have no intelligent comment or cannot dispute anything Karen from Illinois said.

  18. 27)
    Big Dan said on 2/14/2009 @ 11:46am PT: [Permalink]

    People who make fun of someone else saying something, without making a logical response, are just exposing themselves as shills. No one likes to be called “nuts” or “high” when they have the guts to point out some facts maybe someone like YOU don’t like. Like the ever-changing stories, which I myself witnessed, too. I suppose I’m “high” too. Fuck You!

  19. 28)
    Sally said on 2/14/2009 @ 9:54pm PT: [Permalink]

    Hey Big Dan I second that.
    I was suspicious when I heard that story. So “thankyou Karen” thats very interesting and very scary. And Im not smoking anything at all.

  20. 30)
    Big Dan said on 2/15/2009 @ 9:45am PT: [Permalink]

    OK, plane crash made easy. This is the chronology of events of the plane crash. It can be put together from all the articles I’ve been reading, but this one has it all in one.

    In this article:

    http://www2.canada.com/news/wor...tml?id=1283946

    (and it’s the same in all the articles, the chronology)

    …all reports up to this point said the crew radioed in “no problems”. Then, miraculously, NTSB spokesman Steve Chealander comes out of nowhere, the lone person who knows exactly what happened, and says the crew “discussed ICE” on the wings. The initial reports didn’t say how Chealander knew this, in light of the fact that all stories thus far said the crew radioed in “no problems”. Subsequent stories then said Chealander found this out from the crew discussing this on the black box voice recorder. One problem – at the time of Chealander’s statement, THEY DIDN’T READ THE BLACK BOXES YET!!!

    The NTSB spokesman needs to be questioned. There’s a cover up in progress.

  21. 31)
    Big Dan said on 2/15/2009 @ 12:43pm PT: [Permalink]

    Flight 3407 did not crash nose-down, federal investigators say

    Contrary to eyewitness reports that Continental Flight 3407 crashed nose-down into a Clarence home Thursday, federal investigators said today there’s evidence that the airplane landed flat.

    “We found the cockpit, tail section, both wings and the engine. And they’re where they should be if an airplane was laying flat,” National Transportation Safety Board Member Steven Chealander told reporters…

    “This airplane right here had very sophisticated deicing systems on it. They had very sophisticated procedures and processes in place to use to mitigate ice. We’re not saying that ice caused this accident.”

    http://www.buffalonews.com/home...ry/579277.html

  22. 35)
    FreedomOfInformationAct said on 2/19/2009 @ 12:26am PT: [Permalink]

    It’s February 19th 2009, do you know where your ‘turdblossom’ is?

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