While listening to NPR this morning Cokie Roberts, one of their usual news analysts, said that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and the WSJ editorial page suggested that an indictment of Karl Rove and/or Scooter Libby on obstruction of justice or perjury charges would not be “that serious” and she suggested that those advisors may continue working with the President and Vice President and should not be dismissed.
Now, I am no fan of the President’s administration, but if he were to allow even one indicted advisor to remain on his staff, it would most certainly be to his regret. This suggestion, not even a decade after former President Clinton was impeached on perjury charges [opinion piece in the National Review, a conservative outlet, that highlights the similarities between then and now], smacks of corruption and cronyism. This two-word theme is shaping up to be the phrase we will all get sick of hearing come out of democrat’s mouths in the 2006 campaign season, so it would be ridiculous folly for the President to give them even more ammunition. What is left of the President’s approval among independents and democrats may evaporate entirely if they feel that liars and criminals are being sheltered by the White House.
I don’t know how the Plame-name grand jury investigation will play out, but to suggest that indicted advisors be allowed to remain in their roles suggests the great disdain for which public office is viewed. Rove and Libby do not deserve their appointments, it is by the will and approval of the American people (via the Administration) that they serve. If indicted, they must step aside, at least until their cases play out in the courts.
Only problem with an “always step-down” philsophy is that it assumes that the person doing the inditement is not doing it for some political objective of their own and that they are only serving the law. I think Clinton’s supporters would say that his impeachment was politically motivated. Although he did break the law, Clinton’s actions in most other situations probably wouldn’t be worth persuing if he was a private citicen. The decision to follow with impeachment was probably partisan, as well as the voting on strict party lines on both sides.
Indeed, I personally feel that Tom DeLay’s inditement was totally politically charged and had the purpose of simply making DeLay step down since (voluntary) Senate rules require him to. The reason I think this is not just because the prosecuter is a very strong Democrat, because I’m willing to believe that most professionals like him are able to put politics aside to do their own jobs. What makes me suspicious is that the prosecutor had to go to 10 grand juries before one of them would agree to go with the inditement. Indeed, one of the jurors on that jury admitted on camera that he had is opinion already formed before he got there based on media coverage and didn’t look at the evidence when forming his judgement. And even that is only one person on a grand jury (20 members?), but the most suspicious piece of evidence is that DeLay was originally charged with a crime that wasn’t actually passed into law until after the date in question. Once this was exposed to the media, the prosecutor had to go back and come up with something else to indite with a week later. If the prosecutor had been following this case for two years, it seems like that wouldn’t have happened.
I cite all this as to support my claim that inditement should not automatically require a stepping down from the post. Rather, the president should use his discression to determine whether or not he should require the person to step down based on the current situation, whether he thinks the inditement is credible or pure political tripe or whatever. Otherwise, it only takes one ambitious prosecutor, judge, or grand jury to remove anyone from office, at least for a while.
In the case of DeLay, his indictment may have been a politically charged issue, and thus saying that one should always step-down is going too far. I agree with you there. By that reasoning, Clinton should have stepped down even though I believe that (as you mentioned), though he perjured himself, pursuing the charge through to impeachment was a politically motivated decision. DeLay will, if he’s actually innocent, emerge from his trial as such and very likely resume his political career. But, if he’d stayed on as Majority Leader during that time, the mere imrpession of a potential criminal leading the nation would have painted all Republicans with the same dirty brush. The same goes for a potential Rove and/or Libby indictment.
The reason that DeLay and now (potentially) Rove and Libby are different from the Clinton impeachment, is that they are facing actual serious criminal situations. Clinton was lying to a grand jury to protect himself politically, but not to shield himself from prosecution for further criminal charges (though the Ken Starr thing was tied into the whole Whitewater investigation, it was very peripeheral). DeLay is charged (rightly or wrongly) with laundering more than a hundred thousand dollars in violation of a century-old law in Texas, and Rove and Libby are facing potentially being charged with willfully disclosing the name of an operating secret agent.
I guess what I’m saying is that whether or not the person should step down is, as you said, up to the discretion of the individual/administration, but when it’s money laundering or intimidation that you’re facing, not lying about screwing the secretary, the cards should be read quite differently.
Taking a step aside from partisan interpretations, I hope these indictments actually scare politicians into being more reputable. I certainly don’t think a president would make the mistake of lying to a grand jury again (at least not soon). So, hopefully, they clean up fundraising a bit, and think twice about using any means necessary to discredit their opponents. Though this may be more than a little idealistic, I would prefer a bloodthirsty media and legal establishment, because there’s more than enough chum in the water than needs cleaning up in Washington.