Turning up the heat

Both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees authorized subpoenas for White House officials to testify in the ongoing US Attorney scandal investigation. When threatened with the possibility, Bush offered what the White House described as a “generous compromise” whereby the officials could be interviewed in private sessions, with no transcript and without being sworn under oath – basically, a license to lie. Thankfully, the Dems called that bluff and re-raised. The leadership rightly recognized that testimony under such constraints would be less than pointless. How many times have they lied about the firings already (hat tip to TPM)?

Anyway, the White House immediately went to the “this is simply partisan politics” smokescreen defense. If you can stomach it, go read the transcript from Wednesday’s WH press conference and learn what a dancing Press Secretary sounds like. BTW – hearing that uber-assclown Tony Snow whine about kangaroo courts and show trials all the while defending the Administration’s enemy combatant policy is just priceless.

So what is next? I think the smart money is on some sort of compromise that gets Rove to testify under oath. I cannot see the Dems folding on that. They smell blood in the water. Nevertheless, given Bush’s stubbornness, if a deal does not happen soon, subpoenas will be issued and the whole thing goes to court. One other incident that could change the game, AG Gonzales’s former Chief of Staff and the man at the center of this controversy, Kyle Sampson, will testify before Congress next Thursday. If he drops a bombshell, expect events to unfold quickly.