Following up on the new interrogation executive order for a moment, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is apparently one of those old-fashioned lawmakers who’s withholding judgment on the new regs until he knows whether they’re legal.
[Rockefeller] said it was unclear what the order “really means and how it will translate into actual conduct by the CIA.” In a statement, Rockefeller repeated a committee demand made last spring that the White House turn over a copy of the Justice Department’s legal analysis of the new guidelines.
Rockefeller could, of course, try to subpoena the internal documents. But the White House believes executive privilege effectively eliminates congressional oversight, and the president is entitled to define the scope and limits of his own powers.
I guess Rockefeller will just have to assume Bush is operating in good faith. What could possibly go wrong?
