In light of the letter from Sara Taylor’s lawyer to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Atrios asks a question I’ve been mulling over myself.
What possible authority does the White House have to try to prevent a former employee from testifying about something? How can they White House “not let her” testify?
Obviously if she doesn’t want to testify they can play legal games to try to prevent her from being compelled to testify, but she’s said she’s willing. How can they stop her?
I suppose the natural White House response is that Bush is concerned about the ability of presidents to get unvarnished advice from his aides, and if a president’s team has to worry about discussing internal Oval Office deliberations, aides might hold back. Or something. It’s never been entirely clear to me.
But with Taylor, the argument is not only flawed for the reasons Atrios explained, but also because it defies the White House’s own defense: the president, the Bush gang says, was not integrally involved with the U.S. Attorney purge. There were no internal Oval Office deliberations, because Bush was out of the loop, according to the White House line.
This makes the tack on Taylor even more confusing. The White House is effectively claiming that a former aide, who no longer works for the administration and is willing to testify, can’t talk about conversations with the president she didn’t have.
I’d only add that there also seems to be some confusion about what, exactly, the White House is telling Taylor and her lawyer. The AP reported today that the administration is “urging” Taylor to ignore a subpoena. The letter from Taylor’s lawyer to the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, explains that the White House Counsel’s office is “directing her not to comply.” The letter goes on to say that Taylor would “testify without hesitation,” were it not for the White House’s “direction.”
The difference is not just semantics. The AP piece suggests the White House simply prefers that Taylor ignore a congressional subpoena. The letter from Taylor’s lawyer explains that the White House has effectively given her an order not to cooperate.
