Iraq: Moment of Truth

ADMINISTRATION — BUSH DEFIES CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS: Yesterday, President Bush moved to prevent the congressional testimony of two of his former aides, Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor, by invoking “a broad interpretation of executive privilege.” In a “combative letter” to Congress, White House counsel Fred Fielding wrote that Bush “was acting ‘to protect a fundamental interest of the presidency‘ by preserving the confidentiality of internal deliberations, including communications ‘with others inside and outside the Executive Branch.'” Fielding added that especially in the case of the case of the dismissed U.S. attorneys, “the institutional interest of the executive branch is very strong.” Such executive privilege, however, is regarded “by legal scholars as one of the most ambiguous concepts in constitutional law.” The Supreme Court has “recognized that a president and his advisers should be able to speak freely without fear that they will be compelled to divulge those conversations”, but “has never addressed how, in the absence of a criminal inquiry, to balance the president’s needs against a desire by Congress to obtain information for oversight.” House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) issued a statement saying that the White House continues to “adhere to their unacceptable all-or-nothing position” and “will not even seek to properly justify their privilege claims.” The White House has offered to make officials available to Congress only if the meetings are private, informal, and not transcribed. Previous administrations, however, have allowed dozens of top-level White House officials to give public testimony. Senate Judiciary Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said of the matter, “It is unfortunate that the White House is trying to interfere with…Congress’s responsibility to get to the truth behind the unprecedented firings of several U.S. attorneys.”

ETHICS — REP. CANNON: IGLESIAS WAS FIRED ‘BECAUSE HE’S AN IDIOT’: The Bush administration has repeatedly changed its excuses for why David Iglesias was ousted as U.S. attorney. Justice officials called him an “absentee landlord,” even though his time away from the office was spent serving in the Navy Reserve. The administration also complained that Iglesias “neglected to prosecute voter fraud,” even though he “had been heralded for his expertise in that area by the Justice Department, which twice selected him to train other federal prosecutors to pursue election crimes.”  On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) gave a new excuse for the departure of Iglesias: “He was fired because he’s an idiot.” Yesterday, The Progress Report spoke with Cannon spokesman Fred Piccolo, who explained Cannon’s “off-the-cuff” remark: “It was more in regards to the fact that Iglesias was initially contacted by [Sen. Pete] Domenici and [Rep. Heather] Wilson. Instead of informing main Justice, he decided to inform the public and Justice…by holding several press conferences and tantalizingly releasing those names to the press, and has subsequently been the only fired U.S. attorney to beat this drum of ‘this is a Karl-Rovian plot to obstruct justice and the prosecution of Republicans’ — after all these hearings, to any impartial observers it doesn’t play out.” Cannon’s office went even further in an interview with Raw Story, saying that Iglesias “did not possess the temperament for the position he held.” Cannon’s statements don’t hold up to scrutiny. Iglesias has admitted that not reporting the calls from Domenici and Wilson was a mistake. But he publicly revealed those calls only after he was fired. Similarly, he began speaking out about Rove’s role after he was fired. Therefore, Cannon’s criticisms of Iglesias’s post-firing behavior still don’t explain why he was ousted in the first place.

JUSTICE — SENATE CONFIRMS JUDGE BLOCKED BY BROWNBACK FOR ATTENDING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CEREMONY: Yesterday, the Senate voted 83-4 to elevate Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff to federal district court. Though Neff was first nominated in July 2006, her nomination was placed on hold after Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) learned that she had attended a same-sex commitment ceremony in Massachusetts in 2002. Brownback claimed that Neff’s attendence at the ceremony, which was for the daughter of her longtime neighbors, “seems to speak about her view of judicial activism.” Brownback and other conservative activists claimed that Neff had presided over the ceremony, which occurred before Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, even going so far as to request a formal opinion on her actions from the Justice Department. But Neff only read a homily at the ceremony. Eventually, after two hearings in which he aggressively questioned her about the ceremony, Brownback relented and allowed the vote to go forward, though he continued to demand a roll-call vote for her nomination, which is unusual as judicial nominations are usually decided with a voice vote. Before joining the Michigan Court of Appeals, Neff “served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Department of Justice, Commissioner with the Michigan Supreme Court and Special Assistant Attorney General for the Second Injury Fund.” The new judges bring “a distinguished legal career to the federal bench and will positions that have been vacant for far too long,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) upon the confirmation of Neff and two other Michagan judges.

On April 27, 2005, during a hearing on the PATRIOT Act, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified to Congress, “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse.” Six days earlier, the FBI had sent Gonzales “one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations” of the PATRIOT Act committed by FBI agents, new documents show.

President Bush “plans to lay out what an aide called ‘his vision for the post-surge’ starting in Cleveland today to assure the nation that he, too, wants to begin bringing troops home eventually.” Bush “decided against” actually withdrawing troops, “but he and his team concluded that he needed to shift his message” to “show that he shares the goals” of the American people.

62: Percentage of Americans who “say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq,” according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, “the first time that number has topped 60 percent.” President Bush’s approval rating reached an all-time low: 29 percent.

“The Army missed its recruiting goals in June for the second straight month, as rising casualties in Iraq and a strong economy at home kept the service from enlisting enough new soldiers, Pentagon officials said.”

“Iraq’s soaring unemployment rate is estimated at 60 to 70 percent, and attempts to lower it are caught in a bloody Catch-22. … Joblessness helps fuel the country’s insurgency,” but “that same instability is hampering rebuilding efforts and economic growth that could generate more jobs.”

“Despite promising to admit 7,000 Iraqi refugees to the U.S. by the end of September, the Bush administration has allowed in just 133 over the past nine months. … Officials predict that at most only 2,000, or less than 30%, of the 7,000 can be processed by Sept. 30.”

“A suicide bomber targeted a NATO patrol in a crowded marketplace in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, killing 17 civilians, officials said. At least 30 people were among the wounded, including seven Western soldiers.”

And finally: The Bush twins were out “having fun last week” in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. The girls “had a handful of preppy-looking boys surrounding them.” The DC Examiner reports, “Jenna looked great and was enjoying standing outside with her cigarette talking to her tall, country-club-looking friends who appeared to be 35-plus. … Barbara had a nice-looking black dress on and [had] what looked like a Jager bomb towards the end of the night.”