Judiciary presses Bush aide on firings

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/08/judiciary_pushes_bush_probe.php

Judiciary presses Bush aide on firings

Judiciary Panel Interview With White House Aide Jennings Reveals Little About Attorney Firings

LAURIE KELLMAN
AP News

Aug 02, 2007 11:08 EDT

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday scored its first public interview with a currently-serving aide to President Bush about the firings of federal prosecutors.

But the session with White House political aide J. Scott Jennings at the outset was yielding little more than an appeal for sympathy and a citation of Greek mythology.

With top presidential aide Karl Rove skipping the hearing on Bush's orders, the committee had to make do with a Rove underling who made clear he was appearing only to signal goodwill and to avoid a contempt of Congress citation.

"I will be unable at this time to answer any questions concerning White House consideration, deliberations or communications related to the U.S. attorneys matter," Jennings, deputy director of Bush's White House political shop, told the panel. He made that assertion after initially noting at the outset that he is only 29 years old.

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"I hope that you can appreciate the difficulty of my situation," Jennings said. "It makes Odysseus' voyage between Scylla and Charybdis seem like a pleasure cruise."

Whether Jennings' legal journey bore any resemblance to Homer's Odyssey was unclear. Scylla and Charybdis were sea monsters and the phrase has come to mean being between two dangers when moving away from one brings a person in danger of the other.

But committee members were not intrigued.

"Mr. Jennings, I am not here to play games," Leahy warned. "Let's not be too contemptuous of this committee."

Source: AP News

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