LAT/AP: Miers to Be Questioned on Gitmo Policy (by Senator Specter)

[DeepModem Mom]

Miers to Be Questioned on Gitmo Policy
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent


WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee served notice Wednesday he intends to question Harriet Miers about the Bush administration's policy of detaining suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, injecting new uncertainty into a Supreme Court nomination already in doubt.

In a letter to Miers, who is White House counsel, Sen. Arlen Specter also said he would ask what assurances she could offer that she would be independent, if confirmed, "and not give President Bush any special deference on any matter involving him that might come before the court."...

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Specter's letter set out a controversial area he intended to probe -- the constitutional underpinnings of the administration's handling of suspects in the global fight against terrorism....

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Additionally, Specter posed a series of questions about the authority of the president to detain aliens outside U.S. borders.

These questions all appeared to involve controversy for Miers, since she has advised Bush privately about the war on terror, and the president has long insisted that advice offered within the White House is off-limits to outsiders....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top14oct26,0,313070.story

[Kingofalldems]

1. Don't think she will get that far

My money is on withdrawal very soon.

[Divernan]

2. So in the end, Specter, as always, does what Bush wants.

You've read elsewhere on DU links the info that the probable spin Bush will use to withdraw Meirs' nomination, or have her withdraw, is that there is a conflict of interest re the info the Senate is seeking, and Bush's self-styled claim of confidentiality of advice he received from Meirs. All a matter of national secuirty, you know. When asked in a recent press conference if her was considering a way to drop the Meirs' nomination, he responded that he would refuse to release the papers sought by the Senate.

Specter will rationalize that the ultimate goal is to keep Meirs off the Supreme Court, so he will go along with a strategy to let the president off the hook with as little embarassment as possible. Specter doesn't want to give the Dems the chance to get material really damaging to Bush. Specter didn't have to submit his questions in advance. This is just a critical step in the dance to get rid of Meirs. The only issue Specter goes to the wall on against the party leadership is his own interest in cancer research/stem cells/etc. And if he hadn't had cancer, he would not expend his precious political capital on that issue. Never forget that this is Arlen, magic-bullet-theory, vicious cross-examiner of Anita Hill, Specter.