Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Ask not for whom the bell tolls…



Bush bracing for new scrutiny

White House hiring lawyers in expectation of Democratic probes


President Bush is bracing for what could be an onslaught of investigations by the new Democratic-led Congress by hiring lawyers to fill key White House posts and preparing to play defense on countless document requests and possible subpoenas.

Bush is moving quickly to fill vacancies within his stable of lawyers, though White House officials say there are no plans to drastically expand the legal staff to deal with a flood of oversight.

Republicans close to Bush say any such moves would not come until the White House sees how aggressive Democrats are in trying to pry the lid off the inner workings of the administration.

"It's certainly not lost on them that there will be more investigative requests and more things for them to respond to, but I don't think that you're going to see any dramatic changes," said Reginald Brown, a former associate in Bush's White House counsel's office who is now in private practice.

Democrats' stated intention to conduct more rigorous oversight of the Bush administration "simply will mean that [White House officials] need a few more people to manage the paper flow," Brown said.

"Like any White House that has to deal with a Congress run by the other party, this White House has to bulk up its staff to deal with the inevitable flood of subpoenas. They're also going to have to coordinate with lots of friends and supporters," said Mark Corallo, a former top Republican aide to the House committee that issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to the Clinton camp.



You know what they say; the best offense is a good legal defense...

Read on...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder what the odds are that the Dems will disappoint. Endless investigations and hearings for the next two years without anyone being held accountable? Hmmmm.

Kansas said...

I don’t know. Hopefully, they will all take a que from Kenneth Star and be a pit bull. Star was like a dog with a bone where Clinton was concerned. I think we should only return the favor.

Anonymous said...

One can only hope...but remember, these are Democrats afterall, and you'd hope that they would have learned a lesson over the last 12 years.

But then again, yesterday I read they're going to allow Reps an opportunity to basically frustrate them on getting things done through committees in Congress.

So. Don't be surprised if nothing's been accomplished by the Dems by 08 and all the crooks walk free and clear.

Anonymous said...

Oh. I stand corrected. The Dems wised up it seems.

Click this.