I just want to add to our take on the slow-but-steady progress of the U.S. attorney firings investigation. Today, Senator Patrick Leahy ruled illegal Bush’s claim that executive privilege allows him to withhold documents related to the firings. The Senate Judiciary Chairman pointed out that if the President didn’t have anything to do with the case, as the White House has repeatedly claimed, his privilege is irrelevant. The White House turned Leahy’s statement on its head, saying the whole case should be invalidated: If Leahy says the President had nothing to do with it, they contend, the investigation is essentially kaput.
Au contraire. If Bush wasn’t involved, why would he bother claiming executive privilege in the first place? If anything, the White House’s eagerness to close the case signifies that it’s far from over. Call me crazy, but methinks the Decider doth protest too much.
—Casey Miner
