WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted for a contempt citation against presidential confidants Karl Rove and Josh Bolten on Thursday, the latest move in an inquiry into possibly politically motivated firings of federal prosecutors. The 12-7 vote sent the citation against the two to the full Senate, but it was not certain to advance further.
Rove, the architect of President Bush’s two campaigns for the White House, and Bolten, the president’s chief of staff, have refused to comply with subpoenas demanding testimony and documents in the congressional probe. Rove, who recently left government, and Bolten claim the information Congress demands is off-limits under executive privilege. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate dispute that.
The Senate Judiciary Committee vote means that contempt citations against Bush administration officials await floor action in both chambers of Congress. It’s not clear they will advance any further. Even if the citations receive floor votes, the issue likely would land in federal courts in a drawn-out constitutional showdown over what White House information should be made available for congressional oversight. Any court proceedings would almost certainly survive the Bush administration.
"They should be fully aware of the futility of pressing ahead on this," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. "It has long been understood that, in circumstances like these, that the constitutional prerogatives of the president would make it a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys." Lawmakers of both parties say Congress shouldn’t threaten to cite someone with contempt and not follow through…
" … the constitutional prerogatives of the president" are, in fact, the very thing that’s on the table right now. Bush is saying that the DOJ works for him and he will not let them prosecute this case. There’s absolutely no rational reason for Bolten and Rove to be exempted from testifying or turning over records. The U.S. Attorney firings were a politically motivated set of moves, clearly designed to improperly influence American elections. The hearings alone have lead to the resignations of almost every top official in the Department of Justice and some highly placed White House staffers, Karl Rove among them. They were like rats fleeing a sinking ship. So there’s no question of a political ploy in this investigation – it’s about genuine "wrongdoing." There’s also no question about Rove’s involvement. Hearing testimony and DOJ emails make it clear that he was involved. I’m not personally aware of the Bolten connection, but I expect that it’s solid. He’s been involved in everything else. So, the legalities aren’t in question. Likewise, I can think of no way in which asking these two men to testify under oath in a Congressional Hearing impinges on National Security or Foreign Policy. The only possible reason for them not to testify is that they have something to hide. How do " … the constitutional prerogatives of the president" justify staffers suspected of being actively involved in a scandalous piece of misbehavior, perhaps a felonious piece of misbehavior, being declared immune from testifying before Congress?
Tony Fratto, the President’s minister of sarcasm, says pursuing this would be "futile." This article says that "any court proceedings would almost certainly survive the Bush administration." I say, let’s get those "futile," drawn out, court proceedings started tomorrow and stick with them until the end of time. If our Constitution gives the President the power to exempt such people from the due process of law and Congressional Oversight 
when there is this much probable cause, then it’s time to change the Constitution – and this case may be the way to usher in that change. What better definition of the abuse of power that this – saying no to our legislature and courts because the President doesn’t want us to know how all of this went down? In fact, I think this episode and the issuing of these Contempt citations obligates the Congress to fight this case to the death. The Iraq War is going to be a terrible legacy of the Bush/Cheney era. Carrying their concept of an Imperial Presidency one day past November 8th, 2008 will be an even worse blight to pass on to future generations…
Dana Perino’s version of the Talking Point
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