Head of Senate Judiciary threatens White House With Contempt Charges

Senator Patrick Leahy ( D-VT) in one of his favorite settings...preening for the cameras

Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee got in a photo-op and a press conference today as the Senator threatened to charge the White House with contempt for not responding to a subpoena for internal documents on the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program.

“Time is up,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "We’ve waited long enough."

In spite of the theatrics, the Bush Administration said a long time ago that it has no intention of releasing these documents,which it claims amount to a fishing expedition. According to the Administration, they've reviewed the documents Leahy asked for and many of them involve items covered by executive privilege

Some sources have also been concerned about the wisdom of releasing classified documents in a congressional hearing. And they're most likely correct...especially with a leak prone Congressman like Leahy around.

What this is, however, is another ratcheting up of the Impeachment speedwagon driven by the vengeful Democrats in Congress.

To proceed Leahy would have to file criminal contempt charges, get the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve it and then put it to the full Senate for a vote...after which, if it passed, it would likely go to the US attorney’s office in DC for prosecution..

Stay Tuned...