Cheney: Congressional probe of attorneys' firings 'a witch
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney Tuesday dismissed congressional investigations into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys as "a bit of a witch hunt." art.cheney.lkl.cnn.jpg Vice President Cheney says there are no allegations of wrongdoing in the firing of the U.S. attorneys. "First of all, there's no charge," Cheney said. "What's the allegation of wrongdoing here? Frankly, there isn't any." "They keep rolling over rocks hoping they can find something, but there really hasn't been anything come up that would suggest there was any wrongdoing of any kind," Cheney told CNN's Larry King, adding that he did not feel that Bush senior political adviser Karl Rove need -*test*-('")ify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the matter. "The president feels strongly -- and I do too, I agree with him -- that it's important for us to pass on these offices we occupy to our successors in as good a shape as we found them. And that means protecting and preserving the integrity of those processes," Cheney said. The interview with Cheney will air Tuesday night on "Larry King Live" at 9 p.m. ET. Cheney added, "I think that an offer has been made" wherein senior officials would meet with members of Congress -- "but not under oath, not in public, no transcript, to discuss these issues." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced last week that he would subpoena Rove. When announcing the subpoena on the Senate floor, Leahy said "we've now reached a point where the accumulated evidence shows that political considerations factored into the unprecedented firing of at least nine U.S. attorneys last year. Testimony and documents showed that the list was compiled based on input from the highest political ranks in the White House, including Mr. Rove and Mr. Jennings."
Jennings is deputy director of political affairs at the White House.
Leahy also subpoenaed former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former Rove aide Sara Taylor to -*test*-('")ify about what they knew about the attorney firings. The White House has also resisted allowing them to -*test*-('")ify. View More
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney Tuesday dismissed congressional investigations into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys as "a bit of a witch hunt." art.cheney.lkl.cnn.jpg Vice President Cheney says there are no allegations of wrongdoing in the firing of the U.S. attorneys. "First of all, there's no charge," Cheney said. "What's the allegation of wrongdoing here? Frankly, there isn't any." "They keep rolling over rocks hoping they can find something, but there really hasn't been anything come up that would suggest there was any wrongdoing of any kind," Cheney told CNN's Larry King, adding that he did not feel that Bush senior political adviser Karl Rove need -*test*-('")ify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the matter. "The president feels strongly -- and I do too, I agree with him -- that it's important for us to pass on these offices we occupy to our successors in as good a shape as we found them. And that means protecting and preserving the integrity of those processes," Cheney said. The interview with Cheney will air Tuesday night on "Larry King Live" at 9 p.m. ET. Cheney added, "I think that an offer has been made" wherein senior officials would meet with members of Congress -- "but not under oath, not in public, no transcript, to discuss these issues." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced last week that he would subpoena Rove. When announcing the subpoena on the Senate floor, Leahy said "we've now reached a point where the accumulated evidence shows that political considerations factored into the unprecedented firing of at least nine U.S. attorneys last year. Testimony and documents showed that the list was compiled based on input from the highest political ranks in the White House, including Mr. Rove and Mr.