Lawmakers Make Much of Karl Rove's Empty Seat

James Risen hasn't cooperated in case against his alleged source

(NEWSER) - Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena demanding testimony from New York Times reporter James Risen in the case against ex-CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling, who allegedly leaked info about a failed CIA disinformation campaign to him for a 2006 book. A judge has already quashed one subpoena issued to Risen, but prosecutors have argued that journalists have no special protection against testifying, the AP reports. More»

Says no evidence he did anything wrong in US attorney firings

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove has been cruelly persecuted. For years now the House Judiciary Committee and the New York Times editorial board have been trying to pin him as the mastermind behind the US attorney firings. Recently the committee called him in for a two-day, 12-hour interview, and what did it discover? Absolutely nothing, Rove boasts in the Wall Street Journal. More»

(NEWSER) - The House Judiciary Committee released documents today that Democrats say put Karl Rove and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers at the center of the US attorney firing scandal, Politico reports. “Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings,” says panel chief John Conyers. In particular, Rove and his staffers sought to oust the US attorney in New Mexico because he failed to prosecute corruption cases against Democrats—and thus help a Republican congresswoman in a tight race, reports the Washington Post. More»

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove was intimately involved in the firing of at least three of the US Attorneys sacked for purportedly political reasons during the Bush administration, emails obtained by the Washington Post show. One note mentions a senator who “asked that we remove the US Atty” and “couldn’t be more serious about this request.” Though Rove says, “I’m not even sure I was still there”—he was—the attorney was fired. More»

Bush aide cooperated with prosecutor: lawyer

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove stayed mum as he left an interview with a special prosecutor today about the firing of US attorneys during the Bush administration, the AP reports. Nora Dannehy questioned the former White House aide at his lawyer’s office; she left after about 4 hours. Rove’s attorney said his client cooperated and did his best to answer Dannehy’s questions. More»