From the AP:
The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday cleared the way for subpoenas compelling five Justice Department officials and six of the federal prosecutors they fired to tell the story of a purge of U.S. attorneys that has prompted demands for the ouster of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
The voice vote to authorize the panel to issue subpoenas amounts to insurance against the possibility that Gonzales could retract his permission to let the aides testify voluntarily, or impose strict conditions.
The committee also postponed for a week a vote on whether to authorize subpoenas for
President Bush’s top aides who were involved in the eight firings, including political adviser Karl Rove, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and deputy White House Counsel William K. Kelley.
Update: Why did the committee hold off on subpoenas to the White House? Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says “It is regrettable that members of the minority blocked subpoenas for some of the White House players. They should be joining in our efforts to get to the bottom of this.â
Update: And here’s Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT):
âWe have asked for Administration officials and now former officials to cooperate with the Committee, and I hope that they will. If they cooperate, we will not need to issue subpoenas. But we did not start to get the truth from the Department or the Administration until we put subpoena authorizations on the Committeeâs agenda… Through the Committeeâs oversight work so far, we now know some of the answers to many questions we have been asking, and the answers are not good. â
