Democrats May Be Headed to Showdown With Obama Over Bush Probes

[babylonsister]

Democrats May Be Headed to Showdown With Obama Over Bush Probes

By James Rowley


Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Some Democrats in Congress don’t want to let George W. Bush leave town.

They want to continue investigating alleged wrongdoing by former administration officials like Karl Rove just as President Barack Obama is urging them to turn the page.

House Judiciary Committee Democrats have a long bill of particulars. They want to force Bush-era officials to testify about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys and alleged politicization of law enforcement. They want to press inquiries into Bush’s program of warrantless wiretaps and into allegations that suspected terrorists were tortured in U.S. custody or turned over to other countries for such mistreatment.

Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who leads the Judiciary Committee, has called for a “truth and reconciliation commission” to investigate such Bush administration tactics.

So far, Obama hasn’t endorsed the probes.

“I’m more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards,” the president said, in telling reporters Feb. 9 that he would examine Leahy’s proposal. “My general orientation is to say, ‘Let’s get it right moving forward.’”

The first opportunity for an intraparty clash among Democrats may be over a subpoena of Rove, the man who helped guide Bush’s political fortunes. The House Judiciary Committee wants to ask Rove his possible role in firing U.S. attorneys.

No Stonewalling

“We are going to finish the investigation we started,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who heads a judiciary subcommittee on constitutional rights. “The committee can’t allow any administration to just stonewall, run out the clock and say goodbye.”

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aDYQRfop9MWc&refer=us

[enough]

1. Why does this have to be a conflict between them? Each branch has its own

functions, roles, a prerogatives. The HJC can investigate without any comment one way or another from the President.

[catnhatnh]

2. But it SURE is a smart way to frame it....

Obama regrets the investigations but he's been balked by his own party...

[MarjorieG]

3. O wants the appearance and reality of moving forward, tackling health care mire important.

No righteous indignation and purity tests, please, just pragmatism.