Rove, Miers, others may get subpoenas

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee will vote next week to subpoena Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers and other White House officials to testify about their involvement in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said Friday.

The White House did not supply documents or the list of available witnesses to the committee Friday. The committee is to start its investigation into why the administration fired the attorneys, Conyers said.

"The committee must take steps to ensure that we are not being stonewalled or slow-walked on this matter," Conyers said. "I will schedule a vote to issue subpoenas for the documents and officials we need to talk to. Allegations that our criminal justice has been undermined by partisan politics and that the Congress was deceived about these activities are among the most serious this Congress will consider, and we expect immediate answers."

Meanwhile, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales apologized to the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys in a conference call Friday, and the White House dropped its contention that Miers first raised the idea of firing U.S. attorneys.

Regarding the expected documents, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who heads the subcommittee that focuses on U.S. attorneys said, "The White House is playing a dangerous game of chicken... . The White House has chosen to ignore the deadline for information on its role in firing federal prosecutors, after publicly stating a commitment to finding the truth," Sanchez said. "This commitment — like the Bush administration's ever-changing version of what actually happened — seems to have a very short shelf-life."

At issue is why the Justice Department told Congress that the White House had no input in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys for performance reasons. But e-mails recently released by the Justice Department show conversations between the White House advisers and Gonzales' chief of staff Kyle Sampson, a Utah native who has since resigned.

Testimony from the fired attorneys suggests there was more behind their terminations than simple personnel changes, especially in cases of those with good performance records.

U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and any can be replaced at his discretion. Bush supporters point to the fact that former president Bill Clinton fired all 93 U.S. attorneys when he came into office and that these are political appointments. But lawmakers are quick to rebut that that was a change of administration, when such replacements are normal.