Executive privilege seen as leak-case option> WG 10-8-2003

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Executive privilege seen as leak-case option
Shielding material is not ruled out; Democrats protest
By Wayne Washington, Globe Staff, 10/8/2003

WASHINGTON -- Despite President Bush's repeated pledges of full cooperation, administration officials yesterday refused to rule out invoking executive privilege to shield some documents from Justice Department investigators looking into whether someone in the White House illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative.

Democrats who have complained that the investigation should be handled by a special counsel instead of the Justice Department because of its connections to the White House said the prospect of executive privilege being used shows that more independence is needed.

"Asserting executive privilege would make a farce of the investigation," said US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. "That's why we need a special prosecutor, so that we can challenge any coverup."

The very words "executive privilege" evoke memories of scandal-plagued presidents trying to use the power of their office to hide from public view politically damaging information, and White House press secretary Scott McClellan was careful not to use the term. Still, he would not rule out the use of executive privilege, saying: "I think it's premature to even speculate about such matters."

Presidents can invoke executive privilege to shield from public view some aspects of their internal decision-making process. "It's used to shroud advice that's sometimes inflammatory or has been rejected," said Thomas Sargentich, a law professor at American University in Washington, D.C. "Executive privilege is not supposed to be a shield in criminal investigations."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/08/executive_privilege_seen_as_leak_case_option/

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1. Lots more in the article.

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McClellan said Gonzales's office set its own deadline for 5 p.m. yesterday so that it could go through the piles of information to see what information is relevant and should be turned over.

Gonzales's office will also have the opportunity to examine what information, if any, should not be turned over because the administration believes it is protected by executive privilege. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal opinions on questions with constitutional dimensions, would review any White House claims.

Sargentich, who worked in the Office of Legal Counsel during the Carter and Reagan administrations, said lawyers in that office can make independent judgments, though the attorney general remains their boss and can overrule them.

If the White House asserts a claim of executive privilege, Sargentich said it would be a strong sign that the investigation is heading to the highest levels of the Bush administration, given that the claim can only be used to shield the president's decision-making process.


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[don954]

2. oh god, do it - executive privilege please

nothing says guilty like trying to hide behind "executive privilege", can we say Nixon?

[joemurphy]

5. Note that this article is two years old. n/t

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6. That is the idea.

I am taking people back to when the investigation first began. I know I forgot. But, I was reminded today when the Gozales-Card article and comments on the news shows came out.

IMO-If in fact the WH did claim executive priveledge over certain documents and other evidence that was supoenaed, then there is a quiet legal battle going on behind the scenes, with appeals to boot. We know Fitzgerald and those in his camp aren't leaking. Why would the WH leak something as damaging as this.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. Why don't Republicans just proclaim an Emperor "X"

And we never know who our Emperor is or what he does. We never see him. He never gives speeches. No one but the inner circle attends meetings with him. And diebold is discarded as superfluous. Just put in place a secret government where we have no access to any information at all. We might be half way there already.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. My lord... do it, please do it