Today AP reports (in the OCRegister) that the President, or is it King, has deciderd that he does not have to answer to the United States Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers’ demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors.
Bush’s attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor.
In reaction, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy accused the administration of shifting “into Nixonian stonewalling” and revealing “disdain for our system of checks and balances.”
“With respect, it is with much regret that we are forced down this unfortunate path which we sought to avoid by finding grounds for mutual accommodation,” White House counsel Fred Fielding said in a letter to Leahy and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “We had hoped this matter could conclude with your committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke executive privilege. Instead, we are at this conclusion.”
I recall another President who held that opinion. As I recall the precedent set by the Supreme Court, I don’t think the executive privilege he is claiming will hold up. Unless of course, Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito, lied to the Senate when thy assured us that they believed the Court should not revisit settled questions of law. Read the complete storyÂÂ