Reports on subpoenas of Miers, Taylor ignored support from Republicans

In reports on congressional subpoenas issued on June 13 to two former aides to President Bush, several news outlets -- including Fox News, MSNBC, The Washington Times, and the Kansas City Star -- cast the issue as partisan, suggesting that only Democrats supported the subpoenas. In fact, at least two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed support for the subpoenas, which called for former counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor to testify before the House and Senate judiciary committees about the Bush administration's controversial firings of nine federal prosecutors.

A June 14 Washington Post article on the subpoenas reported that Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, "said that he supports the decision by [Sen. Patrick] Leahy [D-VT] and [Rep. John] Conyers [D-MI] to issue the subpoenas." Moreover, as USA Today reported, when the committee, on a voice vote, gave Leahy, the Senate committee chairman, the power to subpoena White House officials, "Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, requested that his vote be recorded as 'aye.' "

Despite Specter and Grassley's support for the subpoenas, a June 14 Washington Times article reported that "Congressional Democrats yesterday issued subpoenas" and that "the White House accused Democrats of provoking an unnecessary fight." A June 14 Kansas City Star article reported that "Congressional Democrats raised the bet Wednesday in their high-stakes confrontation with the White House over politics and the Justice Department." Neither report mentioned Republican support for the subpoenas. Similarly, in a news segment during the June 13 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner said that "Democrats want former counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor to testify about the firings of eight U.S. prosecutors." And on the June 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews said that "Democrats were firing off subpoenas today like 4th of July fireworks," and added that "Democrats want to surround [White House adviser Karl] Rove in subpoenas, then destroy him." During his subsequent report on the subpoenas, Hardball correspondent David Shuster reported that "Democrats ordered former White House aide Sara Taylor and former counsel Harriet Miers to testify next month about White House involvement."

From the June 13 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

FAULKNER: Two congressional committees issuing subpoenas for two former White House advisers. Democrats want former counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor to testify about the firings of eight U.S. prosecutors. The White House has said it would only make current and former staffers available in private interviews without transcripts. Congressional investigators refusing that proposal. If the standoff continues, the matter could end up in court.

From the June 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball:

MATTHEWS: Good evening. I'm Chris Matthews. Welcome to Hardball. Bring me the head of Karl Rove. Democrats were firing off subpoenas today like 4th of July fireworks. Their target is Democratic enemy number one, the man who carries what Democrats would call the diminutive title of "Bush's brain," Karl Rove. Democrats want to surround Rove in subpoenas, then destroy him.

[...]

SHUSTER: Today, two Democratic congressional committees issued subpoenas for White House documents and testimony related to the controversial firings of federal prosecutors. Democrats ordered former White House aide Sara Taylor and former counsel Harriet Miers to testify next month about White House involvement.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) [video clip]: We still haven't found out who actually concocted this scheme. You know, many people suspect Karl Rove. The only way we can find out is by questioning him and questioning the people in his office, and that's what we're going to do.

SHUSTER: The Democrats, however, did not actually issue a subpoena today for Karl Rove. Instead, they say, they will work up the chain, targeting Rove's aides and then ratcheting up the pressure on him and on an administration that has so far refused to make any White House officials available for testimony under oath.

—R.D.