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Rove Deposed in US Attorney Probe

by: John Bresnahan and Josh Gerstein   |  The Politico

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Karl Rove was questioned by the House Judiciary Committe as part of an investigation into the firing of several US attorneys by the Bush administration. (Photo: Getty Images)

    Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was deposed Tuesday by attorneys for the House Judiciary Committee, according to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the panel's chairman.

    Rove's deposition began at 10 a.m. and ended around 6:30 p.m, with several breaks, Conyers said.

    Conyers would not comment on what Rove told congressional investigators, what the next step in the long-running Judiciary Committee investigation would be or whether Rove would face additional questioning.

    "He was deposed today," Conyers said in an interview. "That's all I can tell you."

    Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, declined to confirm or deny that his client had appeared before the committee. Luskin said there was an agreement that the depositions would remain confidential until they were completed. However, in a court filing Monday, the Justice Department indicated that the deposition set for this week would be the committee's last.

    Conyers' panel had first subpoenaed Rove in 2007 as part of its probe into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. But the Bush White House, citing executive privilege, refused to make Rove or White House Counsel Harriet Miers available for any deposition.

    Conyers' panel responded by filing a civil lawsuit against the White House and prevailed in district court last year but the appeals court had yet to address the issue.

    With an agreement between the Obama White House, the Bush White House and House Judiciary Committee, the current Justice Department avoided having to choose sides in court and risk an appeals court precedent which could undercut executive privilege or Congress's right to investigate alleged government malfeasance.

    Miers was interviewed by Judiciary Committee staffers in June.

  

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Will Rove be granted "redos"

Will Rove be granted "redos" as he was by mr. Fitzgerald? to think that after the conspiracy by Rove & Cheney to leak CIA info to Miller, Cooper, et al....put it all on Armitage....then for Jill Simpson to reveal the clandestine communications b/w Rove & the Canary's and the rest who committed felonies to convict Seilgmann....and then year after year watch Rove smirkingly avoid sworn testimony.....makes you wonder if the justice system isn't as pathetic a farce as the SEC. Rove is the Madoff of American Politics.....lie upon lie building a temple of lies.

I'm suspicious. What made

I'm suspicious. What made Rove suddenly feel compelled to show up this time? What purpose is served by protecting "executive priveledge"? Executive priveledge is the last refuge of scoundrels with criminal activities to hide.

is there a public

is there a public availability or freedom of access to what was deposed?... does Bush have a brain? can any of this be connected to treason and the Plame affair?... this mental midget known as Turd Blossom & Bush's Brain has set/placed US goodwill to all time lows never seen or known by any generation since the nations founding... treason is a justice sought and expected here

Put Rove in jail already!!

Put Rove in jail already!!

Behind closed doors, in

Behind closed doors, in secret, the national menace Rove was deposed. Why should we believe that any justice will come of it. The rich and powerful have privileges the rest of us don't enjoy. Our government becomes more like a dictatorship every day. There is no justice for the slain soldier, the wounded veteran, the homeless veteran, and all the civilians killed. They were sacrificed because we were lied into war.

Respectability will be the

Respectability will be the death of this nation. I'd love it if a few members of congress would step forward in a fit of righteous indignation and had condemned Rove for his evil activities. Rove actively undermined this nation's constitution for the sake of partisan politics. If there were true justice in this country...porky boy would be serving hard time in the toughest hell hole in the country.

If the Obama White House is

If the Obama White House is agreeing with the Bush White House and everyone is afraid that the "appeals court" could affect executive privilege then I'm afraid "We the People" are in jeopardy of losing what we think the Constitution stands for. It appears that our elected officials and their close associates can make a mockery of our system, lose an election then attack the opposite side for winning... guess they know that they are untouchable by our laws... maybe all Americans can request the same treatment for the same crimes in the future.

This is the same Karl Rove

This is the same Karl Rove who while making low grades in college and trying to avoid being drafted in the 70s, went up against local democrats by passing out fliers that promised free alcohol and women. Rove wasn't caught at the time, but many pointed the finger at him as it had his sick win-at-all-cost stance all over it. Years later, he confessed to it but dismissed it as a "childhood prank". College students aren't in childhood, and I know many college students who would never stoop that low. No wonder Fox "news" hired Karl Rove - Unfair, imbalanced and unashamed.

Count me in! I'm an

Count me in! I'm an American, with my libeties and Constitution shredded, Trillion $ heists and (no change) , barely have a house and babies starving! Shame on all of the crooked leaders who "SOLD US OUT" Enough already. The disposition really should have been aired on at least cable, but then again, we don't have a free press anymore, do we? I'd be willing to have the freeways shut down in LA for a chance to see "Rove" wiggle, like the pig, I know that he is.

I'm no lawyer, so perhaps

I'm no lawyer, so perhaps someone can explain to me the difference between "executive privilege" and "above the law."

Can Anyone name One Good

Can Anyone name One Good Thing that rove has Ever Done?

he only agreed to show

he only agreed to show himself if allowed (Again) to Smirkingly Mock All Things Non rovepubliKKKlan!

Obama's Department of

Obama's Department of Justice will not release Cheney's FBI testimony about the Valerie Plame outing. Do you seriously believe, the Senate will ever release Rove's testimony, I doubt it. Instead of being an honorable august body of deliberation, the US Senate has become the good old boys’ millionaire club, with each party competing to line its pockets with the most money and favors from lobbyists and the wealthy. Many Senators have spent their careers making secret deals that benefit corporate greed at the detriment of the people, hiding behind coded words like compromise, bipartisanship and security. No matter which party has control, this government will not work, for the people, until we replace all of these corporate backed lackeys with publicly financed members.

I still agree with Gore

I still agree with Gore Vidal: if these guys had been pulling these tricks during the days of the American Revolution, they "WOULD HAVE BEEN HANGED FOR TREASON!" And those were Vidal's exact words...

That's IT!...I'm throwing

That's IT!...I'm throwing away all my red neckties!

LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE... is

LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE... is pretty much the only thing I want to ever see Karl Rove do again... Though I NEVER watch or read anything 'Murdoch'.., I know Rove is on FOXSNOOZE, so I also know they can easily find him there 'commenting-for-dollars' and cuff him when the time comes...

honestly ...america looks

honestly ...america looks pretty disgusting as far as countries go....i'd trust a sudanese janjaweed before i'd trust an american politician!!

Not a syllable of morality

Not a syllable of morality and ethics left in the vast majority of American politicians. America is the first great disgrace of the twenty first century, with it's political endorsement of unending war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, torture, theft and treason! The US government has become a nursery for mass psychosis and represents the greatest threat to LIFE on planet earth!

Conyers has been continuing

Conyers has been continuing a torturously slow negotiation with Rove and his attorney to comply with the law, presumably including this concession for secret depositions. We know Conyers has evidence in hand proving Rove's office was disenfranchising likely Democratic voters. This could mean thousands of felony counts if it can be proven race was a factor in deciding who they scrubbed. Aside from Plamegate, the DOJ firing scandal, the DOJ hijacking and the Siegelman case, Rove is also suspected of illegally trashing presidential records more than once. Because Conyers, Rove and the rest of Congress continues their dealings in secrecy, we have no way of knowing if Conyers is making deals with criminals or dispensing justice. My best guess would be that Mr. Conyers is delicately balancing the fact that Rove can still damage so many sitting elected officials. I believe Rove has compiled "red files" on everyone in DC, probably through abuse of official intel gathering apparatus. I for one would welcome the s#itstorm that would follow if Conyers seized all Rove's records for forensic examination and Rove took revenge by outing dozens of high ranking Democrats. Maybe after an unprecedented bipartisan ethical purge, the American people could start a new era of transparency.