Something to watch
An issue that has been bubbling just beneath the
surface of the US Attorney surface has begun to surface. It
has apparently been confirmed that Karl Rove, along with other White House
criminals, uses an RNC email account for about 95% of his email. Henry
Waxman has noticed, and has suggested to the RNC that it would be a
good idea to make sure that the emails don't disappear. No need to wonder about
Rove's reasons for this arrangement. Assume the worst and you've got it right.
Unfortunately for Karl and his boss, this too clever by half strategy may have some unpleasant unintended consequences, as have so many of the adventures upon which they've embarked. First, there's the matter of the Presidential Records Act, which this conduct may have violated. More importantly, there appears to be a fundamental inconsistency between the use of an email account maintained by a political party and the claim that the user is a government official offering policy advice to the president. In other words, by his own actions Rove may have made it very difficult for his lawyers to argue that he is an official to whom the concept of executive privilege attaches, when he appears to operate predominately in the private, political sphere.
Bush will probably argue that he has the unreviewable right to designate the individuals to whom the privilege attaches, thus conferring upon himself, in addition to his Constitutional authority to pardon past transgressions, the right to vest individuals of his choosing from virtual immunity from investigation or prosecution. In most periods of our history this would be a hard judicial sell. Even if there are isolated moments in which Rove functions as a presidential policy advisor, there is no reason to hold that he is therefore subject to a privilege with respect to everything he does, such as, for instance, showing Powerpoint presentations to government employees about how they can help Republican candidates. The RNC emails should, by definition, be fair game, and unless they have been deleted, they promise to be quite interesting reading.
The outcome of this constitutional feud will perhaps give us the final word about whether the Bush gang has perverted our constitutional system past the point of redemption. Despite the very weak, almost non-existent legal claim he is making, Bush may win in court. This may all come down to whether or not Justice Kennedy has buyer's remorse about putting the would be dictator into office in the first place.
Unfortunately for Karl and his boss, this too clever by half strategy may have some unpleasant unintended consequences, as have so many of the adventures upon which they've embarked. First, there's the matter of the Presidential Records Act, which this conduct may have violated. More importantly, there appears to be a fundamental inconsistency between the use of an email account maintained by a political party and the claim that the user is a government official offering policy advice to the president. In other words, by his own actions Rove may have made it very difficult for his lawyers to argue that he is an official to whom the concept of executive privilege attaches, when he appears to operate predominately in the private, political sphere.
Bush will probably argue that he has the unreviewable right to designate the individuals to whom the privilege attaches, thus conferring upon himself, in addition to his Constitutional authority to pardon past transgressions, the right to vest individuals of his choosing from virtual immunity from investigation or prosecution. In most periods of our history this would be a hard judicial sell. Even if there are isolated moments in which Rove functions as a presidential policy advisor, there is no reason to hold that he is therefore subject to a privilege with respect to everything he does, such as, for instance, showing Powerpoint presentations to government employees about how they can help Republican candidates. The RNC emails should, by definition, be fair game, and unless they have been deleted, they promise to be quite interesting reading.
The outcome of this constitutional feud will perhaps give us the final word about whether the Bush gang has perverted our constitutional system past the point of redemption. Despite the very weak, almost non-existent legal claim he is making, Bush may win in court. This may all come down to whether or not Justice Kennedy has buyer's remorse about putting the would be dictator into office in the first place.
Posted: Monday - March 26, 2007 at 09:28 PM
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Published On: Apr 17, 2007 07:20 PM
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Published On: Apr 17, 2007 07:20 PM