THE LAST DAYS OF DEMOCRACY

Yesterday the Bush administration disclosed a bold new assertion of executive privilege. He said that by his invoking executive privilege the Justice Department will not be able to pursue any contempt charges against any who work closely with him.

This is scary because it places huge obstacles in the path of the Democrats who are trying to get the information about the firing of the federal judges by prying it loose by proceeding with contempt proceedings.

Under federal law, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia has to present a statutory contempt citation before the grand jury for its action. But the administration argued that Congress doesn’t have the power to force the U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases where the president has used his executive privilege to protect official testimony or documents.

"A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case," said a senior White House official, who said his remarks are the wishes of the White House. The official also said that in circumstances like these, it would be “a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys”.

"What this statement is saying is the president's claim of executive privilege trumps all," said Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University who has written a book on executive-privilege issues. "That's a breathtakingly broad view of the president's role in this system of separation of powers”.

The administration's statement is a dramatic attempt to get the upper hand in his constitutional battle with Congress The Bush administration has not yet informed Congress on this new stance and has been trying to figure out when and how they should let the public know what they are up to in this battle.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said "The White House must stop stonewalling and start being accountable to Congress and the American people. No one, including the president, is above the law." Sounds good, but we have all heard that before. The big problem is that no one seems willing to stand up and demand this accountability from the administration.

This stance that the White House has taken will in essence allow the executive branch to define the scope and limits of its own powers."

Whatever happened to “equal, but separate branches of government”?

The California Curmudgeon