What a day. First the President made a grave error:
“The president spoke to the attorney general around 7:15 a.m. from the Oval Office,” said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. “They had a good conversation about the status of the United States attorney issue. The president also reaffirmed his strong backing and support for the attorney general.”
Whoops. Then he made another one:
The White House offered this afternoon to make the political strategist Karl Rove and the former counsel Harriet E. Miers available for interviews — but not sworn testimony — before Congressional investigators looking into the firing of United States attorneys.
The White House counsel Fred Fielding announced the offer after a visit to Capitol Hill today.
And he is about to make another one:
THE PRESIDENT WILL MAKE A STATEMENT ON THE U.S. ATTORNEY MATTER SHORTLY AFTER RETURNING FROM KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI AT 5:45 PM, EDT, TODAY, MARCH 20, 2007, IN THE DIPLOMATIC RECEPTION ROOM
In the meantime, the Senate repealed the Arlen Specter provision in the Patriot Act by a veto-proof 94-2 vote. No longer will Karl Rove be able to make his personal friends into U.S. prosecutors without the Senate ‘advise and consent’. We can expect the House to pass the bill easily, possibly by like veto-proof margins (although perhaps not, since the provision doesn’t strike at their prerogatives).
Meanwhile, John Conyers held a hearing today to discuss the deplorable record of the FBI in abusing national security letters. It was quite embarrassing for all (Republicans) involved.
The President continues his penchant for trying to dig his way out of trouble. Stand by your man.