We Really Really Mean It This Time

John Conyers has sent out 8 separate letters to the White House asking for documents and the testimony of key officials in the US Attorney probe, without any success. The latest one is more strongly worded than ever!

Conyers sent a letter to Fielding today, laying out a final proposed compromise solution - the ninth such letter sent. The Committee will also file its contempt report with the House clerk when the House begins its legislative business at 2:00 p.m., which would allow a contempt of Congress vote in the full House to move forward if Fielding rejects this final offer.

Specifically, Conyers requested that the following terms be met:

1. The White House would provide the Committee with copies of documents reflecting communications between White House staff and persons outside the White House relating to the U.S. Attorney terminations and related matters.

2. The White House would make available for confidential staff review the remaining, internal White House documents relating to the same subjects, after which the Committee would identify what would most probably be a smaller number of such documents for production.

3. The Committee and White House would specify present and former White House staffers for interviews but would not require those persons to be under oath.

Conyers notes that the White House has agreed to similar terms for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into Pat Tillman’s death. Further, several of the same agreements were successfully carried out with Justice Department interviews and document production.

This deadline is Friday. This is quite a windup for the pitch, isn't it?

Look, the White House has shown absolutely no interest in cooperation whatsoever. There's little choice but to commence the contempt proceedings and set in motion this Constitutional showdown. The main reason is precedent. If nothing is done when the executive branch ignores Congressional subpoenas, the integrity of the legislative branch is forever compromised. I see little desire on the part of Congress to even prosecute this US Attorney matter any further, even though recent revelations, about the trial of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman, and the testimony of Dick Thornburgh about politically motivated prosecutions in Pennsylvania, make it even more important to get to the bottom of the matter. But the point is that at some point, the Congress has to stop playing doormat and use the powers granted to them in Article I. As Markos writes, channeling the frustration felt by all of us:

D.C. is a funny place. No one seems to have gotten that resounding message, certainly not Bush and the new Republican minority. More surprisingly, Democrats also failed to get the message. On issue after issue, the Democratic norm has been to capitulate to the slightest pressure from the GOP. And while the public has meted record-low approval ratings for this Congress in response, the lesson apparently remains unlearned.

Whether it’s Iraq funding or the Michael Mukasey confirmation, Democrats continue to give away the store without receiving any concessions in return. It’s a one-way street in a town that has ceded Article I of the Constitution for a unitary, non-compromising executive. The public is sick of this administration’s betrayals. Why aren’t Democrats?

Good question.