Posted on 09/05/2001 1:23:51 PM PDT by jern
By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is prepared to invoke executive privilege if Congress demands to see documents about prosecutors' decisions in three Clinton-era cases, administration officials said Wednesday.
The claim, if made, would be Bush's first known use of executive privilege, a doctrine recognized by the courts to ensure presidents can get candid advice in private without fear of it becoming public.
White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales recommended that Bush make the privilege claim if a Republican-led House committee subpoenas the memos or seeks to question Attorney General John Ashcroft about them, the officials told The Associated Press.
The House Government Reform Committee prepared subpoenas demanding the disputed documents and planned to serve Ashcroft on Thursday, setting up a possible legal showdown.
The officials said the administration has researched at least four other instances in which executive privilege was cited involving similar documents.
Executive privilege is best known for the unsuccessful attempts by former Presidents Nixon and Clinton to keep evidence secret in impeachment investigations.
Rep. Dan Burton (news - bio - voting record), R-Ind., the chairman of the House committee, said the Bush administration's stance threatened Congress' ability to oversee the executive branch.
``While I have a great deal of respect for the attorney general, he has announced a new policy that broadens executive privilege,'' Burton said. ``If this unprecedented policy is permitted to stand, Congress will not be able to exercise meaningful oversight of the executive branch.''
Burton's committee has for months been seeking Justice Department (news - web sites) memos about prosecutors' decisions in cases involving Democratic fund raising, a former Clinton White House official and a former federal drug enforcement agent.
A senior administration official said while the decisions were made during Clinton's presidency, Bush had accepted Gonzales' recommendation and was prepared to invoke the privilege and create a clear policy that prosecutors' discussions should be off-limits from congressional scrutiny.
White House lawyers and the president concluded ``the fair administration of justice requires full and complete deliberations and that most often can best be accomplished when prosecutors think through their options in private,'' the official said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.
The claim would be the latest in a string of efforts by the new administration to restrain the flow of information to Congress about private deliberations.
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) has rebuffed requests by the General Accounting Office (news - web sites) and a Democratic congressman to divulge information about people he met with and how he helped develop Bush's energy policy.
And a Senate committee chaired by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (news - bio - voting record) was initially turned down when it demanded several documents detailing the administration's decision to review regulations enacted by Clinton. Eventually, the administration allowed the committee to review the memos, but an aide to Lieberman said officials sent a clear message they would assert their right to withhold documents.
Ashcroft indicated last week the administration intended to reverse the practice of sharing prosecutors' deliberative documents with congressional committees.
Several such memos were shared with Congress during both Republican and Democratic administrations. Most recently in the 1990s such documents were turned over to the Whitewater, fund-raising, pardons and impeachment investigations.
But the concept of extending executive privilege to Justice Department decisions isn't new. During the Reagan years, executive privilege was cited as the reason the department did not tell Congress about some memos in a high-profile environmental case.
And then-Attorney General Janet Reno (news - web sites) advised Clinton in 1999 that he could invoke the privilege to keep from disclosing documents detailing department views on 16 pardon cases.
Legal experts are split on how such a claim might fare in a court challenge.
``Prosecution is a core executive function and from that starting point, a claim of executive privilege is quite a good one,'' said John Barrett, a former Iran-Contra prosecutor who now teaches law at St. John's University.
But Noah Feldman, a constitutional law professor at New York University, said courts would have to balance the president's right to confidential advice against Congress' right to oversight. Feldman said the fact that several prosecutorial decision-making memos have been disclosed to Congress in the past without apparent harm to the presidency could influence the debate.
Clinton's former chief of staff, John Podesta, said most new administrations test the limits of congressional oversight then conclude it is better to reach a negotiated settlement.
``Ultimately the public loses faith in fair administration of justice from over-claims of executive privilege, especially in matters that don't have to do with direct advice to the president,'' Podesta said. ``It appears to me that every administration has to learn that the hard way.''
Meandog, I love ya, dude, but when are you gonna wake up to the truth about McStain?!
FReegards...MUD
More left? McCain at least has KEPT his promises (CFR, Patient's Bill of Rights and keeping the surplus to build back military WHERE IT'S NEEDED!)...is that more left?
Prediction: You're going to see a Patient Bill of Rights (drafted by the Dems) that Shrub will sign (because liberals have got him in their hip pocket because of the economy)!
Quite frankly, I would rather he break his promises regarding the Tort Attorney Early Retirement Bill Patient's Bill of Rights and First Amendment Repeal Campaing Finance Reform. As far as the military, it isn't just a matter of throwing money at problems.
Prediction: You're going to see a Patient Bill of Rights (drafted by the Dems) that Shrub will sign (because liberals have got him in their hip pocket because of the economy)!
Wow. That's such a wonderful conservative statement.
So, this nation of puritanical hypocrites has been led for the past 4 decades by those screaming the loudest and profiting the most off of the criminalization of drugs.
Synchs with that reporter who got offed - Casolero -identification of the Octopus.
You forgot two ... murder (the death of Foster?) and mass murder (to silence Ron Brown).
Here, Dirt, right from the proverbial horse's mouth...(incidentally, never have I seen any administration and its DoD so far apart on the budget.):
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2001 -- DoD "needs every nickel" to address and arrest the near decade-long decline in America's military, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Sept. 5.
Rumsfeld asked the senators to approve DoD's fiscal 2002 budget request so the department can reverse the effects of a decade of "overuse and underfunding" and to fund the transformation of the military to combat the threats of the 21st century.
The 2002 request is the largest increase in defense spending since the mid-1980s. "This is an important first step to get the department out of a hole that the long period of underfunding has put us in," Rumsfeld said.
The request includes money for military quality of life programs, pay raises, housing improvements and TRICARE. In addition, the request bolsters readiness accounts.
Rumsfeld told the senators DoD's priorities in the budget.
"As we prepare for the new challenges … certainly U.S. homeland defense takes on an increasing importance," he said. Asymmetric threats are the more likely threats in the period ahead, he said. These threats include terrorism, attacks by cruise missiles, ballistic missile threats and cyberattacks, and DoD must address these issues.
"The proliferation of weapons with increasing range and power in the hands of multiple potential adversaries means that the coming years will see an expansion of the risks to U.S. population centers as well as our allies and friends," Rumsfeld said. "We will face new threats. Today we're vulnerable to missile attack. That's a fact. And as has been suggested by the chairman, weakness is provocative. It invites people into doing things that they otherwise would avoid."
He said the proposed budget begins funding the transformation of the military necessary to address these threats. "As we work to transform the armed forces, we're working at the same time to transform the way the Department of Defense functions," he said. DoD must encourage a "culture of greater innovation to turn waste into weapons, to show respect for the taxpayers' dollars and to speed the utilization of new technologies into the decades ahead."
Rumsfeld said that even though the world is at peace, it makes sense to increase funding for the American military. "If you think about it, the world economy is what enables the American people to go about their business and have economic opportunities and provide for their families," he said. "If we see an instability interjected into the world economy, because of war or conflict or the fear of war or conflict, the American people lose that.
"We have to remember that what underpins a prosperous economy is peace and stability," he continued. "And what provides peace and stability at this time in the history of the world is the United States of America's military capabilities."
He said the United States spends less than 3 percent of its gross national product on defense. When he first came to Washington in 1957, the country spent 10 percent of GNP on defense. "The idea that we can't afford 3 percent of the GNP to provide peace and stability that makes prosperity and economic opportunity across this globe possible is not debatable: We can," he said.
Seems Shrub is going to have to sack defense because of the tax cut!
And I have never seen the Pentagon say it has enough money. I agree we need to work on Defense - but after we re-orient it away from the Cold War and back to a national defense footing. Of course, your guy McVain would be continuing the Clinton tradition of using our military for everything but national defense - he was quite a cheerleader for the Kosovo intervention, wasn't he? And peacekeeping, IMO, is the leading reason why the military has declined over the last decade. So don't lecture US about how much better a job McVain would do running the military - all he would do is finish the job of running it into the ground.
Ahem to that my friend. We will be seeing many more things that will shock us and like the Martian in "Stranger In A Strange Land" we will all learn the true purpose of laughter........To keep us from going Crazy in a Crazy World.
God's little sorrow release valve. I love Him. Could any of us be as wise as to think of laughter serving that purpose and put it into our very souls?? I think none of us would have been so wise.
You take care,
CATO
Hah, again! Prediction: Bush is going to squeeze the Democrats hard on spending, giving up even some of his spending priorities to make them live within the budget.
And, with Charlie Norwood's help, he'll sign the bill he and Norwood agreed to.
Dagnabbit...I miss the boy!!
"I believe it was the very next post after the one that I quoted that he said "BTW this is my last post to FR." After that Jim said they had a mis-understanding. It was revealed that Clarity no longer represents FR. I have never heard another word about it."
Hmmmm...reckon he's either lurkin' or postin' under "an assumed name"?! LOL...if you are, Brian, FReepMail me, dude, I need yer expertise!!
FReegards...MUD
[Constitutional Law Professor Noah] Feldman said the fact that several prosecutorial decision-making memos have been disclosed to Congress in the past without apparent harm to the presidency could influence the debate.
What's the basis for your opinion, Professor Hugh?
That is not the case, at all.
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