Karl Rove Subpoenaed … Again

It’s official: the House Judiciary Committee has once again subpoenaed Karl Rove, former President George W. Bush’s longtime adviser and aide, to testify before the committee on the politicization of the Justice Department and his involvement in the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D).

Rove’s prior refusals to testify were based on claims of “absolute immunity” due to executive privilege — the idea that even former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress because of the confidentiality of their conversations with the president. But the legality of that claim was rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates as part of the ongoing suit over executive privilege, House Judiciary Committee v. Harriet Miers.

Apparently, Rove has made it clear that despite the new administration, he still won’t be showing up to testify. In a letter to Rove’s attorney, Bob Luskin, Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he won’t delay the hearing any further, just so Rove can continue to blow them off:

Thus, absent an actual commitment by Mr. Rove to comply with the subpoena, I am not in a position to agree to yet a further delay. In essence, given Mr. Rove’s public statements that he does not intend to comply with the subpoena, I am puzzled as to why Mr. Rove needs a mutually convenient date to fail to appear.

Around, and around we go.