Bush accuses Democrats of ‘partisan fishing’

WASHINGTON - Calling the Democratic response to the firing of eight federal prosecutors a "partisan fishing expedition," President Bush rejected lawmakers' call Tuesday to subpoena White House staff for testimony related to the matter.

Bush's public statement came hours after the White House offered to make political strategist Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers available for interviews — but not testimony under oath — before congressional committees investigating the firings.

"We will not go along with a partisan fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants," Bush said in a statement from the White House. "I proposed a reasonable way to avoid an impasse."

He added: "There's no indication ... that anybody did anything improper."

Democrats’ response to his proposal was swift and firm. “Testimony should be on the record and under oath. That’s the formula for true accountability,” said Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Bush gave his embattled attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, a boost during an early morning call to his longtime friend and ended the day with a public statement repeating it. “He’s got support with me,” the president said.

Blow to appointment powers
Earlier, the Senate by a 94-2 vote passed to strip Gonzales of his authority to fill U.S. attorney vacancies without Senate confirmation. Democrats contend the Justice Department and White House purged eight federal prosecutors, some of whom were leading political corruption investigations, after a change in the Patriot Act gave Gonzales the new authority.

“If you politicize the prosecutors, you politicize everybody in the whole chain of law enforcement,” said Leahy.

The bill, which has yet to be considered in the House, would set a 120-day deadline for the administration to appoint an interim prosecutor. If the interim appointment is not confirmed by the Senate in that time, a permanent replacement would be named by a federal district judge.

Several Democrats, including presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barrack Obama, Joe Biden and John Edwards, have called for Gonzales’ ouster or resignation. So have a handful of Republican lawmakers.

“What happened in this case sends a signal really through intimidation by purge: ’Don’t quarrel with us any longer,”’ said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., a former U.S. attorney who spent much of Monday evening paging through 3,000 documents released by the Justice Department.

Private interviews granted
Bush said his White House counsel, Fred Fielding, told lawmakers they could interview presidential counselor Karl Rove, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and their deputies — but only on the president’s terms: in private, “without the need for an oath” and without a transcript.

NBC VIDEO Powers cut March 20: The Senate votes to end the Bush administration’s ability to unilaterally fill U.S. attorney vacancies. NBC's Chip Reid has the details. MSNBC

The president cast the offer as virtually unprecedented and a reasonable way for Congress to get all the information it needs about the matter.

“If the Democrats truly do want to move forward and find the right information, they ought to accept what I proposed,” Bush said. “If scoring political points is the desire, then the rejection of this reasonable proposal will really be evident for the American people to see.”

Bush said he would aggressively fight in court any attempt to subpoena White House aides.

“If the staff of a president operates in constant fear of being hauled before congressional committees ... the president would not receive candid advice and the American people would be ill-served,” he said. “I’m sorry the situation has gotten to where it’s got, but that’s Washington, D.C., for you. You know there’s a lot of politics in this town.”

Fielding: 'Virtually unprecedented'
In his letter, Fielding said the White House was willing to provide lawmakers with wide access.

FREE VIDEO Bush: I regret the public spectacle March 20: MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell analyze the implications of President Bush’s statement on the U.S. attorney firings. Hardball

“These documents, together with the interviews to be provided by department officials, will provide extensive background on the decisions in question, including an account of communications between the department and senior White House officials,” he wrote. “Congress, in short, is receiving a virtually unprecedented window into personnel decision-making within the executive branch.”

Fielding also said that in addition to interviews the White House will provide documents on communications between the White House and the Department of Justice concerning the request for resignations of the U.S. attorneys and between White House staff and members of Congress, their aides and others.

Print this Email this Blog this  IM this

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Newsweek: McCain ally quits over Myanmar ties McCain takes on global warming   Congress eyes dramatic expansion of GI bill New Yorker: Hillary Clinton's wrong course Clinton eyes W. Va.; Obama is shifting focus Democrats gaining ground in the Deep South NYT: Shift in battle over voter IDs NYT: Obama, McCain map fall strategies Newsweek: 'Florigan' gives Clinton clout Clinton spends Mother's Day in W.Va. Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: