Oversight

Karl Rove, the former strategist for President Bush, may be held in contempt if he doesn't honor a subpoena and testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said.

The committee wants Rove to testify about his role in the firings of U.S. attorneys and the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D).

Wasserman Schultz, who has said before that the committee would be willing to arrest Rove if he didn't appear, said on MSNBC Tuesday that the House Democratic leadership has yet to decide whether it would actually hold Rove in contempt. But she said that Democrats would "explore all the options available."

"I know that those decisions have not been made," she said. "And I know that we are going to explore all of the options available. This is very serious. I mean, we're talking about somebody who has intricate detailed knowledge not just about the Don Siegelman case but a variety of things. And it is high time, long past time that he come in front of the Judiciary Committee and answer those questions, especially because he's answered them on national television."

She added that Democratic leaders have not asked the committee to take its rhetoric over Rove's appearance "down a notch."

"I mean, let me just tell you, we are all deadly serious about making sure that we can get the information that we believe we need," she said. "Congress, since the Democrats took over, has re-engaged in terms of our oversight role, which was nonexistent under the Republicans. And so, we take our oversight role very seriously."

Former White House official Brad Blakeman, who appeared with Wasserman Schultz on MSNBC, said that the House Judiciary Committee just wants "a show."

"And they want Karl to sit in a chair and ask him a ton of ridiculous questions, many of which he's going to have to invoke his privilege and the president's privilege and that's just ridiculous," he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is hailing the rescue of three American defense contractors from Colombian rebels.

Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes had been held by rebels, along with kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, since 2003 when their surveillance plane crashed in the Colombian rainforest.

Colombian spies rescued the hostages yesterday, posing as rebels and tricking their captors into handing them over.

"The news that three Americans and their fellow captives held by Colombian rebels have been freed is the answer to the hopes and prayers of so many," Pelosi said in a statement last night.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will get a chance to question Attorney General Michael Mukasey at an oversight hearing July 9.

The appearance will be Mukasey's first before the Judiciary Committee since Jan. 30. Senate aides told The Hill's J. Taylor Rushing that specific topics had not yet been finalized, but an entire spectrum of topics are possible, ranging from funding needs and hiring practices to the issue of torture and the recent Supreme Court decision regarding detainee policies.

The CEO of an electric cooperative trade group alleged during testimony at a hearing Thursday that Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) is under investigation by the FBI for accessing the group Read more...

Congressional interest in the Air Force's much-contested aerial refueling tanker contract is expanding. The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on July 15 to examine the actions of the Air Force in awarding the contract to Northrop Grumman and EADS North America. Boeing lost to the two companies and has successfully protested the award with the Government Accountability Office.

-Roxana Tiron

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called for hearings on the Countrywide Financial program that gave mortgages to Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

Both Dodd and Conrad received mortgages through the Friends of Angelo program, named after Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.

"Before the House moves forward on a massive housing bailout at the expense of every American taxpayer, there are significant questions that must be answered about the Friends of Angelo program and the sweetheart loans provided to key Democratic lawmakers," Boehner said in a statement. "[House Financial Services Committee] Chairman [Barney] Frank (D-Mass.) and [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi (D-Calif.) should begin immediate hearings to examine the special VIP housing perks that Countrywide gave powerful congressional Democrats at the same time it was hiking mortgage rates on American families. I am also concerned by news reports suggesting that banks wrote the bailout provisions of this bill to allow them to cherry-pick the mortgages that are least likely to be repaid and dump the debt on taxpayers. Surely Democrats in Congress believe our highest responsibility is to the American people, not their campaign contributors."

Boehner also noted a report in the Washington Post revealing that banks worked with Democrats to write parts of the $300 billion housing bailout bill, which is now before the Senate.

"[D]emocrats who receive sweetheart deals from their campaign contributors shouldnt be pushing legislation forcing taxpayers to bankroll a $300 billion bailout of scam artists and speculators, and the American people have every right to demand answers if they do," Boehner said in his statement.

Download a copy of Boehner's letter to Frank here.

The Justice Department illegally favored conservative candidates for its entry-level honors program, according to a new report by the department's own inspector general and ethics office.

The report, released Tuesday, found that a group working under Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002 allowed political appointees to take over the screening committee responsible for interviewing and selecting candidates. In the past, the less partisan career department employees had run the selection process.

Download the report here.

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) today called on President Bush to declassify information regarding plans for U.S. military bases in Iraq, expressing concern about speculation of permanent bases.

The administration's critics have speculated that Bush intends to establish permanent bases, as the administration pushes for a security deal between the U.S. and Iraq. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, has denied any such plans.

In a letter to Bush today, Waxman asked that "in light of these [Crocker's] statements, I respectfully request that you exercise your authority under Executive Order 12958 to declassify information regarding the plans for military bases in Iraq."

"Mr. President, many Americans believe that a plan exists to establish military bases in Iraq that will remain indefinitely.

The U.S. ambassador to Albania may have personally approved an effort to cover up the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition shipped to Afghanistan, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said today.

Furthermore, the State Department withheld that information from the committee when it looked into the matter in April, Waxman says.

Major Larry Harrison, the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Albania, told Waxman's committee in a June 9 interview that the ambassador had met with Albania's defense minister in November 2007, and that the two decided to aid AEY, Inc. in its destruction of Chinese packaging housing ammunition it was sending to Afghanistan, Waxman said today.

AEY's 22-year old president was indicted last week under allegations of illegally sending Chinese ammo to Afghanistan under government contract. AEY received $300 million in federal contracts.

Harrison also alleged that his input was redacted from a State Department report on the embassy's involvement with AEY. The committee had asked the embassy for information in April, and embassy officials denied his input from a briefing, Harrison alleged.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Waxman today asked that the ambassador and five other embassy officials give transcribed interviews to the committee no later than July 11.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) slammed the proposed takeover of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian-based InBev.

"My Missouri constituents say, 'This Bud's not for you,'" Bond told InBev's chairman, Carlos Brito, according to a release from Bond's office.

The takeover would lead to job losses for Missouri and hurt the St. Louis community, which depends on Anheuser-Busch's charitable works, Bond said.

Bond has also asked the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to review whether the deal meets acquisition regulations.

Missouri's junior senator, Claire McCaskill (D), also opposes the deal, which is worth about $46.3 billion. Directors at Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, said they would evaluate the offer, made earlier this month. InBev has proposed paying $65 a share.