House panel votes to hold Karl Rove in contempt.
By on Jul 30th, 2008 at 11:29 am
House panel votes to hold Karl Rove in contempt.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 20-14 to hold Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas and refusing to testify. The vote is a recommendation to the rest of the House, but “it is unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi would allow a final vote.” When asked at the Netroots Nation convention if Rove would be put “in that little jail cell that’s in the basement of the House,” Pelosi replied that Judiciary Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) “had told her, ‘Leave it up to me.’”
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“it is unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi would allow a final vote.”
Boy, how much dirt does the Republicans have on this woman?
July 30th, 2008 at 11:30 amKay Says:
“it is unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi would allow a final vote.”
Boy, how much dirt does the Republicans have on this cowardly woman?
fixed.
#
July 30th, 2008 at 11:33 amWITHOUT AN INHERENT CONTEMPT CHARGE ON ROVE…..THIS WILL GO NOWHERE.
PELOSI WAS ON “THE VIEW” AND SAID THAT SHE DIDN’T KNOW IF BUSH HAD COMMITTED ANY CRIMES.
UNBELIEVABLE….PELOSI IS GOING TO FOLLOW GEORGE TO THE HAGUE
July 30th, 2008 at 11:34 amImpeach Pelosi.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:34 amRun, Cindy, Run. And win.
Damn Nancy, it better turn out that you had some sort of plan to push these investigations past the pardonable date or something.
Or else you and your new book can go read each other.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:34 amI wouldn’t rely on the clowns in Congress to follow through on this (see Harriet Meiers, Josh Bolton). We need to do a citizen’s arrest.
Is Karl coming to your town in the near future?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/how-to-perform-a-citizens_b_115163.html
July 30th, 2008 at 11:35 amGee, I’ve had contempt for Rove since I first became aware of him in early 2000.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:37 am(In tribute to the Late Estelle Getty)
Picture it.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:37 amGermany 2010.
Pelosi found complicit with other Democrats and the Entire Bush Administration for Crimes Against Humanity and Treason.
YOU CAN’T IMPEACH PELOSI!!!!!!
I am so tired of people throwing the word impeachment around and not having a clue what it means……seriously, be angry at the woman, fight for a different speaker, vote for her opponent, but understand what you’re talking about!
On another note – I agree – they better hold a vote….today would be nice….put it on the calendar!
July 30th, 2008 at 11:37 amStrongly worded letter to follow.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am#10.
Yes, Impeach Pelosi!
I can and should be done immediately.
She has blood on her hands along with Bush, Cheney, Rove etc.
Let’s save The Constitution and The Bill of Rights
July 30th, 2008 at 11:40 amoops.
it can and should be done immediately.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:40 amSo. Now he can get in line with Bolton and Meiers and they will all three give Congress the finger. For the life of me I don’t know what is wrong with the Democrats. When did they become so spineless?
July 30th, 2008 at 11:40 amLet’s save The Constitution and The Bill of Rights
…what’s left of it …
July 30th, 2008 at 11:42 amThis contempt citation will go to AG Mucky, and occupy a special place in his round file.
INHERENT contempt is the only remedy left to Congress, and they haven’t the stomach for it. Sad.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:43 amWhat do the Democrats have to lose by holding Spider Pig in contempt?
July 30th, 2008 at 11:43 amI am so sick and tired of the Do Nothing Democrats pretending that someday they might actually do something. After the next election.
I sure as hell won’t be voting for them.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:44 amThis is in Nancy’s lap now, but can she find ‘The Table’?
Turn the page, put it on the table, make an example of pigboy and let’s move forward.
Until we convict one of these lying bastards, they will continue to buy, sell & steal our Country.
A day without Fear in America is a day without Republicans…
July 30th, 2008 at 11:45 amRove is contemptable, this is true.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:45 amNO…. we wouldn’t want a final vote…. that would mean they would actually have to do something.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:46 amAny bets on how long it will take karl to go on fox news and laugh in their faces?
Wow…another, much sterner letter will shortly follow…
July 30th, 2008 at 11:46 amoops.
I meant the Netherlands.
(In tribute to the Late Estelle Getty)
Picture it.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:47 amThe Netherlands 2010.
Pelosi found complicit with other Democrats and the Entire Bush Administration for Crimes Against Humanity and Treason.
Kay:
YOU CANNOT IMPEACH THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE!!!!!! The Speaker is a member of the LEGISLATIVE Branch….The LEGISLATIVE Branch is who impeaches……IMPEACHMENT means ACCUSING of a crime. If you want to accuse her of being a co-conspirator, or whatever, then fine, she can be PROSECUTED…..but not impeached. Impeachment is a legislative check on the executive and judicial branches.
Seriously, if you wish to contribute – know your facts, or you sound no different from the dittoheads on other sites.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:48 amThe only thing I can come up with re: impeachment off the table is that
Pelosi is JUST as Guilty as the rest of this Admin. for committing Federal Crimes, Treason etc.
Impeach!
July 30th, 2008 at 11:48 amStill no BRASS from the Dems except Kucinich, come on Pelosi let`s have some action against these re-puke traitors before you go on break………
July 30th, 2008 at 11:49 am#24: sue me.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:49 amKKKarl is now officially the highest paid liar in the USA.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:51 am#14 Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
For the life of me I don’t know what is wrong with the Democrats. When did they become so spineless?
Good Morning Bilbo :) It was a process of voting in Blue Dog Democrats that everyone thought had or shared their same values. Unfortnately, there is almost no difference between the GOP & the Conservative Blue Dogs. Until we start getting rid of them they will continue to grow in numbers(seats they accumulate) and power.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:52 amProsecute Pelosi!
July 30th, 2008 at 11:53 amCould someone help me out here?
Can Pelosi be impeached or not?
July 30th, 2008 at 11:54 amDems will p*ssy out. They always do.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:55 amKAY, Webbyguy is technically correct. A member of the Legislative branch can be removed by a vote of the house, or in an election, but that ain’t impeachment.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:00 pmThe House Judiciary Committee voted 20-14 to hold Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas and refusing to testify.
In a related story, Karl Rove expressed his contempt for Congressional subpoenas. “I’m a Republican”, Rove spat, “the law means nothing to me.”
July 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pmI continue to hold a small sliver of hope that the delay in going after these bastards is directly related to the fact that until January of 2009, they’ll likely just get pardoned, or their sentence commuted anyway.
Still, it does look ridiculously spineless.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:10 pmFor the bush administration’s upset tummy, Nancy is exactly what the doctor ordered.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:16 pmWhen the pain is all gone, she follows up with a kiss on the cheek.
cavjam Says:
The House Judiciary Committee voted 20-14 to hold Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas and refusing to testify.
Strongly worded letter to follow.
And if he ignores that, send a Registered letter.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:18 pmKay says:
“Boy, how much dirt does the Republicans have on this woman?”
And does she actually believe that her dirty secret is safe with Bushco? When the leverage is no longer needed whatever they have on her will be leaked, with pictures, to every news outlet in the world. It must be pretty bad, too. We allready know as fact that she knew about the torture/rendition program AND illegal spying on US citizens well before they became public knowlege of them and said nothing. In my opinion that should have been enough to pressure her to step down in disgrace from the Speaker position. What could be worse/more serious than that? Footage of her using the rolled up Constitution on Dick Cheney ala the infamous hide the cigar trick while Jeff Gannon fellates him?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pmSunday, July 27 2008 – Stories by Topic
Bush’s Mass Pardons Predicted
By Brent Budowsky
July 26, 2008
Consortiumnews.com
Consortiumnews Editor’s Note: As his presidency nears its end, George W. Bush will be faced with a tough choice: either run the risk, along with many of his top aides, of future prosecution for a variety of crimes from the “war on terror” — or fashion a mass pardon for all those involved.
In this guest essay, former Democratic congressional aide Brent Budowsky predicts that Bush will take the latter course, even outdoing his father’s lame-duck Iran-Contra pardons in 1992:
Before leaving office George W. Bush will issue a mass pardon, the largest collection of presidential pardons in American history.
Bush will pardon himself, Vice President Cheney, and a long list of officials involved in torture, eavesdropping, destruction of evidence, the CIA leak case, and a range of other potential crimes.
As George Bush signs the pardons and boards the helicopter to depart Washington as his presidency finally ends, even then he and those pardoned will worry about the statute of limitations.
There is an important point to this, often not recognized in official Washington during the Bush years: When the unthinkable became a way of life, acts were committed that defied constitutional and legal principles in ways never done by an American president.
Torture alone violates international law, domestic law, criminal statutes, and American principles that date back to George Washington.
Eavesdropping without court order violates a statute, FISA, that includes severe criminal penalties. If the courts ultimately conclude that these laws were broken, as I predict they ultimately will, considering the number of individual violations, and the penalties for each violation, the potential sentencing liability for anyone convicted would be huge.
On the destruction of evidence, disappearing e-mails, claims of executive privilege that I predict will be clearly rejected by the Supreme Court after Bush has departed, arguably false testimony to Congress, attempts to cover up actions that violate the law, the list, again, goes on.
There will be a huge legal debate about the right of a President to issue pardons so sweeping in their language that they cover all these potential areas of legal liability, and very possibly, it cannot be done.
Congress should pursue every pending and possible legal challenge to claims of executive privilege so completely untenable under the law that even some conservative Supreme Court justices will refuse to uphold them, as conservative justices joined liberals ruling against Richard M. Nixon.
I predict a series of historic Supreme Court cases that will defeat most of the Bush executive privilege claims and permanently end attempts for royalist interpretations of the law that the Bush years embody.
The fact that Bush attempted to seize power in ways that negate the legislative and judicial branches of government, and the fact that Congress was not heroic in defending its rightful place in the separation of powers, do not change the fact that what is illegal is illegal.
But this is not merely a liberal issue.
There are many authentic conservatives, true Barry Goldwater Republicans, genuine libertarians, honorable strict constructionist conservative jurists and legal scholars who agree entirely that on occasions George Bush has attempted and at times executed seizures of executive power that violate the American Constitution and American statutes.
So, get ready for mass pardons.
Get ready for the long-held precedents of American law to be ultimately if belatedly upheld and spurious claims of executive privilege to be rejected.
Get ready for a long-overdue debate that has barely begun and will be triggered by the mass pardons that will be the last sorry act of the presidency of George W. Bush.
Brent Budowsky was an aide to Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and to Rep. Bill Alexander, then the chief deputy whip of the House. A contributing editor to Fighting Dems News Service, he can be read on The Hill newspaper where this essay first appeared. He can be reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pmPelosi isn’t going to allow a final vote. Remember this link from earlier this month?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:27 pm.
14 House Judiciary members feel it is legally acceptable to NOT appear before the House Judiciary Committee when subpoenaed and instead, escape away on a vacation. The LAW requires that you appear and at least assert privilege.
That’s your Kabuki theater!
For the die hard T.P.er’s the Kabuki reference is a Campbell Brown/Erica Hill slight at the non-impeachment impeachment hearings that are not being reported by T.P. because T.P. is against corrupt establishment and brain-dead media.
.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:46 pmwebslinger Says:
YOU CAN’T IMPEACH PELOSI!!!!!!
WRONG! Any official can be impeached. Federal judges have been impeached more than any other office holder.
I wish people would read the Constitutuin before making stupid comments
July 30th, 2008 at 12:51 pmKarl Rove is laughing his ass off right now. He doesn’t give a s*** about this, because he knows Pelosi and Conyers aren’t going to do a damn thing.
Many here on this blog have something in common with Rove. We all hold Congress in contempt.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pmIn response to #41 (Guido):
Brother you said a mouthful and hit the nail on the head. How embarrassing, but how true. There are two Americas.
I think of Dylan’s song “George Jackson”. “Sometimes I get the feeling; the world’s one big prison yard; some of us are prisoners, the rest of us are guards.”
July 30th, 2008 at 12:54 pmJaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin Says:
Karl Rove is laughing his ass off right now. He doesn’t give a s*** about this, because he knows Pelosi and Conyers aren’t going to do a damn thing.
Many here on this blog have something in common with Rove. We all hold Congress in contempt.
Fair enough, but someone has got to care about the condition of this constitutional government. Do you care that Rove is laughing at the Congress? Would you like to see Rove answer questions to Congress so the American people know what has been happening? These are very simple questions for an American to answer. Somebody has got to care, do you?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:57 pmHow many votes a day are Pelosi and Reid losing for the Democrats?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:58 pmDoc Rock Says:
How many votes a day are Pelosi and Reid losing for the Democrats?
None…Whats the alternative? McSame? No way. We can be pissed at the leadership, that doesn’t mean progressives are insane. We’ll take care of the ‘blue dogs’ in our own way.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:07 pmStrat many of us are getting weary of caring, protesting, writing, calling our representatives. mccain raised $3 million last night one fund raiser in Colorado. Does that tell you anything ? Except for a few hundred people nobody gives a damn about ending the war, allowing the corrupt administration give the bird to the “committees”.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pmtexaslady Says:
Strat many of us are getting weary of caring, protesting, writing, calling our representatives. mccain raised $3 million last night one fund raiser in Colorado. Does that tell you anything ? Except for a few hundred people nobody gives a damn about ending the war, allowing the corrupt administration give the bird to the “committees”.
Yep, I know…I have called my reps so often, I have them on speed-dial.
It doesn’t seem to bring about the change we need, but it also might be stopping the momentum we are fighting against. Maybe it is a close call, but there still needs to be a voice demanding what 80% of the American people want.
The simple fact is that the entire congress (dems/reps) are all in cahoots. The protect each other, and look the other way when one of their own is feathering their nests.
If the incumbent is on the ballot – vote ‘em out without a second thought. That might spur some change.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:17 pmSadly I realize that the citizens and taxpayers footing the bills for an inert, complicit Congress have no say except at the ballot box. Therefore, I will keep all these sleazy political non-actions in mind as I vote. And I will NOT vote for anyone currently in office.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI agree give them term limits by voting them out, they think they are above any law. As for rover, he has dirt on all of them to protect his fat backside. I am so disappointed in pelosi, but all just protecting their retirement.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:19 pmHere’s a list of the committee members: http://judiciary.house.gov/about/members.html
Take the time to thank them, or cuss them.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:21 pmWayne:
Not ALL officials may be impeached…Federal Judges and members of the EXECUTIVE branch may be impeached…..Reason being:
Impeachment is a power of the LEGISLATIVE Branch, specifically the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Nancy Pelosi is NOT a member of the EXECUTIVE or JUDICIAL BRANCH, therefore
SHE
CANNOT
BE
IMPEACHED
Seriously, instead of being snarky, and responding to my comment with disrespect, YOU should be the one who reads not just the Constitution, by MY comment.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:44 pmIt’s all backrubbing. They are askeert to go after “one of their own”. And yes they all don’t want any backlash against their own improprieties.
Actions speak louder than words. Obviously Nancy is guilty of things too. She is just protecting her own wrinkly ass.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:52 pmStop the drama! No offense no laws broken, maybe bent a little.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:56 pmSmile be happy, November is just a few months away.
We can pass massive Global warming Taxes on all energy.
Block the drilling of Oil, gas and fund alternative energy with the taxes. We will create 42 new agencies and 5000 new good paying “Green Jobs”. This should fix the capitalists!
webslinger
Yes, I believe you are correct. A member could (a) be stripped of their leadership post by majority vote of the full House and (b) be expelled from the House by a majority vote of the relevant committee, and then by a majority vote by the full House.
Now can you tone it down and treat the rightfully outraged posters with more respect? Put more weight on the overrall premise of their comments. There are moderators, not administrators, on TP’s threads.
July 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm**SNORE, ZZZZZZZZZZ**
July 30th, 2008 at 2:17 pmWake me when the trial actually starts
lawr1999 Says:
I thought your name was I. R. Baboon.
Fools have no brains to think or spell.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:17 pmName callers are children, right kid?