John Dean--liberals' favorite "Republican"--has this interesting piece on the U.S. Attorney flap. The bottom line:
This time, it is my belief that Bush -- unlike Reagan before him -- will not blink. He will not let Fielding strike a deal, as Fielding did for Reagan. Rather, Bush feels that he has his manhood on the line. He knows what his conservative constituency wants: a strong president who protects his prerogatives. He believes in the unitary executive theory of protecting those prerogatives, and of strengthening the presidency by defying Congress.
In short, all those who have wanted to see Karl Rove in jail may get their wish, for he will not cave in, either -- and may well be prosecuted for contempt, as Gorsuch was not. Bush's greatest problem here, however, is Harriett Miers. It is dubious he can exert any privilege over a former White House Counsel; I doubt she is ready to go to prison for him; and all who know her say if she is under oath, she will not lie. That could be a problem.
But Hugh Hewitt had a guest yesterday who isn't nearly as sure of Congress's power as Dean is.
I was joined by Duke University Law School Professor Erwin Chemerinsky and my colleague from Chapman University Law School John Eastman for a long conversation on the looming showdown between the president and Congress over executive privilege. All three of us agree that the issue is of first impression and that the courts may invoke the political question doctrine. Professor Eastman and I doubt that the courts will be eager to unbalance the power settings between the branches by backing up the Congress' subpoenas in such an obviously political case which is completely unconnected to a criminal investigation. Professor Chemerinsky argues that there are allegations of conduct that might conceivably rise to the level of obstruction of justice, but this is wholesale conjecture.
The biggest problem with this Congressional aggression is that there is no criminal investigation to bolster their "need" for Rove and Miers to testify under oath. It's one thing when there's a criminal case. It's another when it is fairly clear Congress is on a fishing expedition to cite Rove for perjury.
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