Congress calls Bush's bluff on purge scandal

By Libby Spencer

I love it. The House approved subpoenas and compelling of documents in the attorney purge scandal. The Republicans unsurprisingly made a lot of noise about not wanting to issue them until actionable wrongdoing had been uncovered. Please. What little that has come out so far suggests gross wrongdoing and Sen. Leahy says the documents have been radically redacted. I'd guess Justice didn't give them nearly half of what they were entitled to see.

Frankly, I'm a little disappointed to hear Rep. Conyers suggesting otherwise. Meanwhile, the New York Times has the definitive quote of the day.

Responding defiantly on Tuesday, Mr. Bush said he would resist any effort to put his top aides under “the klieg lights” in “show trials” on Capitol Hill, and he reiterated his support for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose backing among Republicans on Capitol Hill ebbed further.

Hard to believe that the man who is ultimately responsible for holding thousands of prisoners incommunicado, and torturing them for "confessions," can deliver a line about show trials with a straight face. And you would think a guy whose family fortune was built on trading with Nazis would want to avoid the mention of klieg lights.

In any event, you know of course that Gonzales is history. The leading indicator being George has given Al the old "heckva job" support. But this time his intransigence may backfire. He doesn't have his rubberstamp majority on tap to sweep it under the rug. If he forces Congress's hand, he may find there's no ace left up his sleeve to avoid even more uncomfortable investigations.

Here's hoping the Democrats live up to their mandate and keep those "klieg lights" relentlessly trained on the White House. It's about time this administration's shadow government was illuminated.

(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)