WASHINGTON
– U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, D-MD, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today condemned the failure of presidential aide Karl Rove to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in its ongoing investigation of the mass firings and replacement of nine U.S. Attorneys.
  He also criticized presidential aide Scott Jennings for failing to answer questions from the Committee by claiming executive privilege.

Rove is the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and is responsible for the political operations of the White House.
  Jennings is Special Assistant to the President and was in involved in the decision to fire the U.S. Attorneys. The Senate Judiciary Committee is investigating the role of Rove and Jennings in the plan to fire U.S. Attorneys and in shaping the Administration’s response to congressional inquiries into the firings.

After exhausting every avenue for voluntary cooperation from the White House on Rove and Jennings, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued the subpoenas on July 26.
 

Senator Cardin issued the following statement:

“Congress has a constitutional obligation and responsibility to investigate the circumstances surrounding the firings of these U.S. Attorneys,” said Senator Cardin.
  “Federal prosecutors must make their decisions on whether or not to pursue a criminal investigation based on the rule of law, and not on political considerations.
  We cannot
  allow political appointees in the Justice Department or White House to threaten federal prosecutors with retaliation for doing their job.”