According to this report, with video, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is considering a plan to subpoena White House staff about the U.S. Attorney firings. While it is certainly within Sen. Leahy's right to subpoena witnesses, the White House is under no rule to actually appear.
There is a matter known as executive privilege, and the President and White House Counsel Fred Fielding know that they can invoke the privilege in this matter. Whether the President is happy or not with the proces, whether Attorney General Gonzales crossed some political line in dealing with these fired U.S. Attorneys is irrelevant. The president is entitled to full, frank and private counsel from his staff and the fact that Sen. Leahy is trying to supoena White House staff on a political witch hunt is rediculous. What Leahy is trying to achieve seems patently obvious. He wants the White House to object so that he can issue cries of "stonewalling" or "secrecy" or some other tripe. In this repsect the White House can't win and probably shouldn't try. Leahy is trying to get his licks in on a weakend President and is seizing this issue to do it.
The White House should have Fred Fielding go on TV and say that he is not going to allow any White House staff to testify in the matter, invoke executive privilege and leave it to the American people to decide.
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