Events Calendar
In This Section
Community campaign collecting donations for Haiti victims
Texas company buys vast gas resources
Zips nip Chipps with late barrage
Boys basketball: Buchtel 89, Garfield 62
Council OKs grant to bring jobs to Green
Welcome to Akron's 'new' neighborhood
Obituary: Hoban's Tom Goodall felt obliged to share everything he had
Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Police: Man tries to buy crack with credit card
Cleveland named worst U.S. city for winter weather; Columbus is No. 8
Woman rescued after falling through rotting floor in house
Man admits stealing TV from Akron home
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
By Lara Jakes Jordan
Associated Press
POSTED: 03:12 p.m. EST, Nov 12, 2008
WASHINGTON: A years-long legal dispute between the White House and Congress over testimony by President Bush's aides likely will be resolved under the incoming Obama administration, former government lawyers from both political parties agreed today.
Additionally, the lawyers said Democratic President-elect Obama probably will seek to declassify more Justice Department legal memos as well as documents across the federal government than did the outgoing GOP administration.
Robert Litt, a former prosecutor and top Justice Department criminal lawyer during the Clinton administration, said it's safe to assume that ''a serious review of the classification system is on the table.''
Added former Reagan White House Counsel Arthur Culvahouse: ''It's simply good government for (legal memos) to be open to review as much as possible.''
The men spoke at a Brookings Institution discussion about legal policy in the Obama administration.
Both lawyers said Obama will likely broker a compromise with the Democratic-led Congress over whether to force top Bush aide Joshua Bolten and former aide Harriet Miers to testify in front of lawmakers or hand over documents about the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
Democrats say the firings, which led to the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last year, were politically motivated. That charge was bolstered by an internal Justice Department investigation, which in September found ''substantial evidence that partisan political considerations played a part in the removal of several of the U.S. attorneys.''
The Justice Department has maintained that Congress can't force top White House aides to testify because it infringes on the executive branch's independence.
A federal appeals court last month refused to immediately enforce the House Democrats' subpoenas, ruling that time will run out on this year's congressional session before the thorny legal skirmish could be resolved.
Litt, who is informally advising the incoming Obama administration, predicted the Democrats will move quickly next year to push forward with the subpoenas.
He called it reasonable to believe that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will ask the White House to reconsider its use of executive privilege in the dispute.
However, Litt said, Obama more likely will hammer out a compromise for Democrats to get at least some of the information they want. Litt said it would likely be done without forcing the subpoena issue that could set a long-lasting precedence for future White House dealings with Congress.
Culvahouse said he agreed that a deal likely will be stuck between the two sides in a political detente that had eluded the Bush administration.
WASHINGTON: A years-long legal dispute between the White House and Congress over testimony by President Bush's aides likely will be resolved under the incoming Obama administration, former government lawyers from both political parties agreed today.
Additionally, the lawyers said Democratic President-elect Obama probably will seek to declassify more Justice Department legal memos as well as documents across the federal government than did the outgoing GOP administration.
Robert Litt, a former prosecutor and top Justice Department criminal lawyer during the Clinton administration, said it's safe to assume that ''a serious review of the classification system is on the table.''
Added former Reagan White House Counsel Arthur Culvahouse: ''It's simply good government for (legal memos) to be open to review as much as possible.''
The men spoke at a Brookings Institution discussion about legal policy in the Obama administration.
Both lawyers said Obama will likely broker a compromise with the Democratic-led Congress over whether to force top Bush aide Joshua Bolten and former aide Harriet Miers to testify in front of lawmakers or hand over documents about the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
Democrats say the firings, which led to the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last year, were politically motivated. That charge was bolstered by an internal Justice Department investigation, which in September found ''substantial evidence that partisan political considerations played a part in the removal of several of the U.S. attorneys.''
The Justice Department has maintained that Congress can't force top White House aides to testify because it infringes on the executive branch's independence.
A federal appeals court last month refused to immediately enforce the House Democrats' subpoenas, ruling that time will run out on this year's congressional session before the thorny legal skirmish could be resolved.
Litt, who is informally advising the incoming Obama administration, predicted the Democrats will move quickly next year to push forward with the subpoenas.
He called it reasonable to believe that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will ask the White House to reconsider its use of executive privilege in the dispute.
However, Litt said, Obama more likely will hammer out a compromise for Democrats to get at least some of the information they want. Litt said it would likely be done without forcing the subpoena issue that could set a long-lasting precedence for future White House dealings with Congress.
Culvahouse said he agreed that a deal likely will be stuck between the two sides in a political detente that had eluded the Bush administration.
The political motivation in the firings was over those Bush appointed U.S. Attorneys refusal to investigate voter fraud when evidence did not justify bringing a case. The Bush White House was attempting to game elections.
Ha! Rich--that is rich. Obama is going to decorate the White House with Acorns and you are blaming Bush for that very same thing
Actually it is quite different Micheala. REGISTRATION fraud is what some ACORN workers are accused of. Not Obama.
Please read the article above to inform yourself.
Guess if you say Acorn, the ABJ will censure you. That is why they only have one comment. Newsprint is so yesterday--that is why the Cleveland Lame Dealer is laying off all their staff.
