Bush Seeks To Allow Staffers To Pretend To Testify

Posted on March 21, 2007
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President Bush, yesterday, offered to allow “interviews” of 4 administration officials, past and present, including Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, on the firings of 8 U.S. Attorneys. The catch is that that the interviews must be private, the administration will allow no transcripts to be made, and none will testify under oath. Basically it is an opportunity for the four to spin the stories anyway they and the administration agree with no accountability.

We’ve had six years of no accountability, now it’s time to require it. What is the point of putting Rove into a room with Chuck Schumer and 1 or 2 aides each and having no record of what was said? When later the statements made in the interview are proved to be false, it’s just one camp’s word against the other. If there is no threat of sanctions for perjury, how can one expect to concentrate the minds of those being questioned on the facts that must be kept straignt to keep them out of jeopardy?

The administration has given us no reason to trust them to be truthful.

Bush called the idea of Rove et. al. testifying under oath “show trials.” No, Mr. President, that would be real trials. A show trial would be if testimony was allowed to be falsified with no consequences. A show trial would be trotting out your staff but requiring no accountability. A show trial would be to pretend that there was accountability when there was none.