Leahy wants meeting with Bush on aide testimony

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), at the urging of the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), on Tuesday requested a meeting with President Bush to hammer out a deal that would allow key White House aides to testify before the panel on the firing of several U.S. attorneys.

{mosads}Leahy indicated that this is a last-ditch effort, saying that his previous efforts to get the White House to cooperate have failed to yield results.

“The stonewalling leaves me and the Senate Judiciary Committee with few options other than considering citations for contempt of Congress against those who have refused to provide relevant testimony and documents to the Congress,” he said.

Leahy noted that Specter, who is unhappy with the conditions the White House wants to place on testimony from top aides but has been seeking to reach a compromise, urged him to contact the president directly.

While Democrats want the aides to testify as any other witness would, White House Counsel Fred Fielding has made a “take it or leave it” offer that would place severe restrictions on any such testimony. The administration does not want the staffers to be placed under oath and said there should be no transcript of the conversation between the lawmakers and the White House aides.