House Judiciary Committee Issues Second Subpoena for Karl Rove

by Justin A. Martell

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers (D-MI) issued a subpoena for Karl Rove to testify regarding controversies surrounding his actions under the Bush Administration yesterday.

Rove is wanted for questioning specifically about the Justice Department's firing of U.S. attorneys in 2006, as well as other accusations of Rove abusing his position to influence the decision making process of the United States government.

Rove ignored a previous subpoena issued by the House Judiciary Committee calling on him to testify on July 10, 2008 citing executive privilege. As a result, the committee voted 20-14 in favor of holding Rove in contempt of congress. However, the vote was in reality only a recommendation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraged the investigation to continue, but ultimately blocked the recommendation from being brought to a final vote. It's speculated that Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have blocked final votes on issues involving criminally pursuing members of the Bush Administration fearing negative publicity and political backlash.

Rove has continually denied involvement in the Justice Department's decision making process regarding the firing of attorneys. However, according to Rep. Conyers, ""His name has come up repeatedly in the hearings on this subject."

The new subpoena requires Karl Rove to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on February 2nd. As the date approaches, two questions linger:

1. Is the renewed assertion of executive privilege for Karl Rove issued by President Bush just prior to leaving the White House still valid under a new president?

2. Will the Obama Administration stand behind the Senate Judiciary Committee? Or will Obama protect executive privilege for his predecessor just as President Bush did when he blocked the investigation into members of the Clinton Administration by members of congress in the beginning of his first term?

Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, defended his client's right to executive privilege in a statement, saying, "It's generally agreed that former presidents retain executive privilege as to matters occurring during their term."

“Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it," Rep. John Conyers said in a statement of his own stating that his committee would no longer allow Rove to dodge testifying. "After two years of stonewalling, it’s time for him to talk.”

In addition to Karl Rove, President Bush has also asserted executive privilege for Harriet Miers, Josh Bolton, and other members of his administration.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/30/karl-rove-held-in-contemp_n_115836.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123302729589718597.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_order_could_present_problems_for_0127.html

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CONYERS_SUBPOENAS_KARL_ROVE_0126.html

www.formyourown.org

Obama Nominates Lobbyist for Top Pentagon Position

by Justin A. Martell

Further investigation into President Obama's nominees has revealed a serious conflict of interest with the man nominated for the number two position at the Pentagon.

William Lynn III, nominated by President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for the
position of Deputy Secretary of Defense, until very recently held the top lobbying position for Raytheon.

This discovery came only a day after the President Obama announced strict guidelines prohibiting lobbyists from serving in his administration. However, a loop hole deliberately left in the executive order allows waivers to let some former lobbyists take positions.

While visiting with the White House Press Corps Thursday night a reporter quickly asked President Obama about the contradiction of policy that Lynn's nomination represents. Obama appeared irritated, and patting the reporter repeatedly on the shoulder, said, "Ahh, see...I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."

Under standards of ethics of the Obama Administration, former Lobbyists must recuse themselves during any discussion or issue that affects the organization or company they used to lobby for. With Raytheon being one of the five largest defense contractors in the United States, this could be a problem for Lynn.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs commented on the situation in a statement, saying, "Even the toughest rules require reasonable exceptions. Our waiver provisions are designed to allow uniquely qualified individuals like...Bill Lynn to serve the public interest in these critical times."

The nomination has been met with raised eyebrows from members of congress and Watch groups like Project on Government oversight have offered a different opinion than that of the White House. "If he [Lynn] recuses himself from anything to do with Raytheon, he can't be the No. 2 at the Pentagon," said Danielle Brian, the organization's executive director. "While people are serving [in government], they shouldn't have dual loyalties."

Lynn himself has stated that he will uphold the Obama Administration's standards of ethics. "On coming back into the department, there are equally strict ethics procedures on what issues I can handle and what issues I can't," Lynn said. "I will be working with the general counsel's office to ensure I follow those ethics procedures completely."

Sources:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17831.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/obama.defense/index.html

http://www.insidegnss.com/node/1100

www.formyourown.org

Obama to Close Guantanamo Bay Within One Year

by Justin A. Martell

President Barack Obama signed an executive order this afternoon calling for the shut down of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within one year.

According to the order, the executive branch will be reviewing the "factual and legal bases for the continued detention of all individuals currently held at Guantanamo." The order also made it clear that the administration will not be just closing the facility and releasing prisoners at random, stating, "Merely closing the facilities without promptly determining the appropriate disposition of the individuals detained would not adequately serve those interests...The prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals detained at Guantanamo should precede the closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo."

Concerns raised within the United States and abroad prompted the drafting and signing of the executive order. A total of 800 prisoners have passed through the facility, with 250 still remaining. The majority of the prisoners have been detained for four years while some have been there as long as six.

The Department of Justice designated the detainees as "enemy combatants," and many have been denied basic legal rights and access to representation. Additionally, there has been a controversy over the coercive techniques used by the Bush Administration in order to extract information from prisoners regarded as pertinent to the "War on Terror." President Obama condemned these practices this afternoon at the signing, saying, "The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly...And we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals."

Sources:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ClosureOfGuantanamoDetentionFacilities/

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ieG7u2PNYg98q9HmLI8SgRSYOKWAD95SI3R80

http://www.rferl.org/Content/Obama_Expected_To_Sign_Order_To_Close_Guantanamo/1373320.html

www.formyourown.org

Obama Revokes Bush Administration Executive Order

By Justin A. Martell

In one of his first acts as President, Barack Obama overturned an executive order issued by President Bush in November, 2001, regarding the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

The Presidential Records Act of 1978 was passed to ensure the availability of internal documents of the executive branch. The P.R.A. actually was, in some respects, an act that made these records a little less accessible. What it did was make presidential records unavailable until up to 12 years after an administration leaves office. The documents would only then be available via a Freedom of Information Act request, which, would keep classified documents classified. President Bush, however, appears to have tried to undermine the act completely with Executive Order 13233. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales drafted the order, which gave the president the right to review the documents being requested, with no time limit. It also gave the president the right to decide not to release them, requiring party making the request to sue the administration in order to obtain them.

Today, however, President Obama revoked Executive Order 13233 with an executive order of his own. Obama's order prohibits not only former presidents from blocking the release of documents that could be embarrassing, but also limits the ability of family members, and former Vice Presidents to block the release of documents as well.

President Obama commented on the secrecy that has become common practice within the United States Government, saying, "Information will not be withheld just because I say so...It will be withheld because a separate authority believes it is well-founded in the Constitution."

In another effort to make his administration more transparent, Obama also placed tighter restrictions on lobbyists by prohibiting them from giving gifts to any member of his administration. He also banned former lobbyists that have now accepted government positions from working on issues that are related to their former lobbying positions.

Update I (1/22/09): It's not clear at this time whether or not Obama's executive order undermined Judge Kotar-Kotelly's recent ruling that sided with Vice President Cheney, which according to Raw Story, made him the "sole determining authority on the public release of his vice presidential records."

Sources:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jSHI4TSbydFa8AAD9VW8_TJit-dgD95RQER00

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/obama-establish.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28758810/

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Court_Public_VP_records_to_be_0119.html

www.formyourown.org

Barack Obama Sworn in as 44th President

by Justin A. Martell

Barack Obama was sworn in as President at the National Mall in front of 1.5 million onlookers today.

Obama acknowledged that he is taking office at a very difficult time in our nation's history, but he vowed he will help America overcome both it's economic problems and difficulties abroad, saying, “The challenges we face are real. They are serious, and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.”

While Obama's excitement and positive attitude were evident, his emotions were tame compared to those celebrating his presidency. For many African Americans, today was viewed as a shining example of the progress of the civil rights activism over the last fifty years. Several onlookers, media pundits, and politicians linked this moment in history to the activism of Rosa Parks, Malcom X, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his speech, Obama also acknowledged those who sacrificed in order to make his presidency possible. "A man whose father,” he said. “Less than 60 years ago, might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

After the inauguration, President Bush flew home to Texas. In his speech at a welcome home ceremony in Midland Texas, Bush offered a few remarks with regard to President Obama. “Today was a good day for America and a good man took the oath of office and we all offer our prayers for his success,” he said.

Tonight, President Obama, Vice President Biden, their families, Washington insiders, celebrities, and many others are celebrating at dozens of balls in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Dow-Jones is down 332 points, Americans are still engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas is teetering on the brink of becoming void. President Obama's first daily briefing will most likely be very sobering.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.inauguration/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/01/20/sot.tx.bush.good.day.cnn

www.formyourown.org