(Host) The Senate Judiciary Committee is recommending that two top advisors of President Bush be held in contempt of Congress.
The panel says former political adviser Karl Rove and current chief of staff Josh Bolten have ignored subpoenas.
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says senators have wanted to talk to Rove and Bolten about the firings of federal prosecutors. Democrats say the dismissals were politically motivated.
Leahy says he tried to compromise with the White House to avoid a contempt confrontation but the president refused to cooperate.
(Leahy) "I don’t believe an administration should be able to just ignore a subpoena. I know when I was a prosecutor I expected people to answer subpoenas. I expect them to answer it here. That’s why both Republicans and Democrats voted to hold them in contempt.”
(Host) Two Republicans joined all ten Democrats on Leahy’s panel in recommending that the full Senate find Rove and Bolten in contempt.
If the Senate accepted the recommendation, a U.S. attorney would be asked to enforce it.
But the White House says the vote is politically motivated.
The administration says the information the committee wants is protected from release under the legal theory of executive privilege.