Specter key in Gonzales inquiry

by Andrew Zajac

 Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter is emerging as perhaps the key player in the Congressional investigation of the U.S. attorneys firings, at least on the Senate side.

 Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-VT, doesn't want to take any big steps without having Specter, a well-regarded moderate and the panel's ranking member, on board to provide some insulation against allegations that the investigation is a partisan hunting expedition.

 So when Leahy takes a big step, like today's issuance of subpoenas to former White House aides Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor, look for Specter to signal support, as he did today when his office distributed his floor statement on the matter:

For Immediate Release

June 13, 2007

Specter Speaks on Floor Regarding Issued Subpoenas

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor regarding the subpoenas issued to two former White House officials compelling them to provide testimony and related information, for the Judiciary Committee’s ongoing investigation into the firing of U.S attorneys.

Three subpoenas were issued: two seeking the documents and testimony of Sara M. Taylor, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs, and another seeking White House documents relevant to the panel’s investigation.

Below is a copy of the floor statement;

 Senator Specter: First, I thank the Senator from Minnesota for yielding. I know she yielded to Senator Leahy; and Senator Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has made some comments which I think I ought to supplement. I believe when you have the subpoena issued for Ms. Sara Taylor, the White House staff, it is appropriate at this time. A letter was sent to Ms. Taylor on April 11 requesting testimony and documents, and there has been no response.

It is my hope, as I have said at Judiciary Committee meetings, executive sessions, that we will yet be able to work this out with Ms. Taylor on a cooperative basis without any further controversy. The enforcement mechanism of the subpoenas is very lengthy. The last time it was undertaken, with the conflict between congressional oversight and the White House, it took more than 2 years. That would take us into 2009, after the election of a new President.

 I think with respect to the subpoena to former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, there again the request went out some time ago, and they have not been forthcoming, and I think it is appropriate to proceed -- again, in a manner which looks toward conciliation, looks toward resolving it without controversy.

 I talked again today to White House Counsel Fred Fielding on the question as to how we are going to obtain testimony from executive branch officials who are high up in the White House, and the President made a televised statement some time ago setting forth the acceptable parameters from the President's point of view.

 After reflecting on it and talking to members of the Judiciary Committee -- both Democrats and Republicans -- I think that most of what the President wants can be accommodated. He does not want his officials, his employees, put under oath.

 My preference would be to have an oath, but I would not insist on that because the testimony would be subject to prosecution under the False Statements Act, 18 United States Code 1001. He does not want to have the sessions public. My preference again would be to have them public, but I would not insist upon that. He does not want to have the officials come before the Senate Judiciary Committee, then before the House Judiciary Committee, and I think we can accommodate that, having members of both committees -- both Democrats and Republicans -- in a manageable group to obtain the necessary information.

 The one point where I think it is indispensable is that we obtain a transcript. If you don't have a transcript, people walk out of the room in perfectly good faith and have different versions as to what happened. I think it is in the interest of all sides to have a transcript. It is in the interest of congressional oversight so we have it precise, so we can pursue questions and have them in black and white and know where we stand. It is important for the people whose depositions are being taken that it be written down, too, so nobody can say they said something they didn't say because we know what they said when it is transcribed.

 I am pleased to say to the distinguished Presiding Officer, the Senator from Rhode Island who is nodding in the affirmative, as a former U.S. attorney, attorney general, and one who has had experience with transcripts, as has the chairman and I, it needs to be written down. I hope we can accommodate the competing interests here.

 There is no doubt there are very important issues involved: The request for resignations from the U.S. attorneys and the reasons why they were replaced. There is no doubt the President has the authority to remove all 93 U.S. attorneys without giving any reason. President Clinton did that at the beginning of his term in 1993. I think it is equally clear the President can't replace people for bad reasons.

 There is a suggestion of pressure on the U.S. attorney from San Diego that she was going after some of former Congressman Cunningham's associates, who is serving an 8-year sentence, and that pressure was put on some other U.S. attorney in some other direction for an improper purpose, and that is an appropriate question for congressional oversight.

 We had a lengthy and heated debate earlier this week on the resolution to say the Senate has no confidence in the Attorney General. That was defeated on procedural grounds. But the issue of the operation of the Department of Justice is not yet finished.

 This inquiry is very important. Next to the Department of Defense, which defends the homeland and is our military defense, next in line is the Department of Justice, which deals with terrorism, deals with drugs, deals with violent crime and that department has to function in the interests of the American people. And getting to the bottom of this investigation is important for that purpose.

 So I wanted to appear to make these brief comments, following the statement by the distinguished Chairman. I thank the Senator from Minnesota.

I yield the floor.

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