Former White House advisor Karl Rove’s presence on Capitol Hill has been requested, once again, by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) Conyers wants Rove to testify about the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, his role in the Bush administration’s firing of U.S. Attorneys and general “politicization” of the Justice Department. A copy of the subpoena is here.
Rove has already thumbed his nose at the committee. He refused last July to comply with a subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, claiming immunity as a former top White House counselor. The committee rejected his claims of privilege and recommended Rove be cited for contempt by the House. The House hasn’t acted on the contempt question. But with the change in administration, Conyers said of Rove: “It’s time for him to talk.”
In a related matter, a federal court last year sided with the House in its attempts to enforce 2007 subpoenas against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Josh Bolton, both of whom also refused to testify in Congress about the U.S. Attorney firings. An appeal is pending.
