They've Testified Before
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Editorial
The Washington Post
Sunday, March 25, 2007; B02
President Bush said last week that he was "worried about precedents" that might be set if he allowed his top aides to testify before congressional committees about who knew what when in the fired U.S. attorneys controversy. Bush said that Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and others could discuss the issue with members of Congress behind closed doors -- and not under oath -- but no more. "I'm worried about precedents that would make it difficult for somebody to walk into the Oval Office and say, 'Mr. President, here's what's on my mind,' " Bush said.
Bush's lawyer, Fred Fielding, added in a letter to committee members: "The president must remain faithful to the fundamental interests of the presidency and the requirements of the constitutional separation of powers."
In fact, public testimony by White House aides to congressional hearings has not been rare over the years. According to a 2003 Congressional Research Service (CRS) study, White House aides have given public testimony on the Hill at least 73 times since 1944. If Bush is looking for precedents, he need look no further than the White House tenure of Bill Clinton, whose aides testified repeatedly in public hearings at the demand of the then-Republican-led Congress.
Here are some of the examples cited by the CRS:
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Jonathan Daniels, administrative assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry on Feb. 28 and March 7 and 8, 1944, to discuss his involvement in the personnel policies of the Rural Electrification Administration.
Wallace H. Graham, physician to President Harry S. Truman, appeared before the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Jan. 13, 1948, to testify about information to which he might have been privy regarding the commodities market.
Bruce A. Kehrli, special assistant to President Richard M. Nixon, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on May 17, 1973, to discuss matters related to the Watergate scandal. Kehrli had been tasked by presidential lawyer John W. Dean III to empty Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt's safe two days after the break-in and turn the material over to Dean.
Patrick J. Buchanan, a special consultant to Nixon, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on Sept. 26, 1973, to discuss efforts by the Nixon White House in 1971 to investigate Daniel Ellsberg, who had leaked the Pentagon Papers.
Rose Mary Woods, Nixon's personal secretary, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on March 22, 1974, to discuss recordings made by Nixon of his Oval Office conversations around the time of the Watergate break-in.
Alexander M. Haig Jr., senior aide to Nixon, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on May 2 and 15, 1974, to discuss matters related to Watergate, including a $100,000 cash payment made by billionaire Howard Hughes to Nixon crony Charles G. "Bebe" Rebozo.
Leonard Garment, assistant to Nixon, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities on May 17, 1974, to discuss matters related to the Watergate incident, in particular Nixon's Oval Office tape recordings.
Lloyd Cutler, counsel to President Jimmy Carter, testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Sept. 10, 1980, on efforts by the president's brother, Billy Carter, to influence the federal government on behalf of the government of Libya.
Samuel Berger, assistant to President Bill Clinton for national security affairs, appeared before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on Sept. 11, 1997, to discuss campaign fundraising practices for Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign.
Lisa M. Caputo, press secretary to first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, testified before the House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs on July 28, 1994, about whether White House aides had inappropriately learned details of a government investigation of the failed Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan in Arkansas. Harold Ickes, deputy chief of staff to Clinton, appeared at the same hearing. So did Bruce Lindsey, a senior Clinton aide, John D. Podesta, Clinton's staff secretary, and George R. Stephanopoulos, a senior policy adviser. A week later, Thomas F. McLarty III, White House counselor, testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on the Madison Guaranty investigation.
John M. Quinn, assistant to Clinton and chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore, appeared before the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters on Aug. 7, 1995, to answer questions on numerous topics.
Lanny A. Breuer, special counsel to Clinton, testified before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on Nov. 7, 1997, on White House compliance with committee subpoenas issued in the course of an investigation into alleged fundraising abuses.
In his letter to Congress last week, Bush counsel Fielding offered only limited access to White House aides under strict conditions: "Questioning of White House officials would be conducted by a member or limited number of members, who would be accompanied by committee staff. Such interviews would be private and conducted without the need for an oath, transcript, subsequent testimony, or the subsequent issuance of subpoenas." This offer was rejected; both House and Senate Judiciary committees authorized subpoenas for Rove, Miers and Rove's former deputy, J. Scott Jennings. The House panel added the name of deputy White House counsel William Kelley to its list.
-- Outlook staff |
