It was reported on Tuesday that former White House Counsel (and rejected Supreme Court nominee) Harriet Miers and former White House Adviser Karl Rove have finally “agreed” to testify before Congress, regarding the firings of U.S. attorneys under the Bush administration.
The question is, to someone who couldn’t care less about being cited for contempt of Congress, is testifying under the penalty of perjury going to provoke any increased level of respect for the United States Congress?
Unfortunately, it’s unclear just yet how much we (the people) are really going to find out as a result of all this. The testimony will not be televised, and while all testimony before Congress is subject to penalty of perjury, the testimony will not be given under oath (an odd distinction which I’m admittedly still a bit confused about).
Further, given the drawn-out negotiations leading up to the agreement (TPM has a complete copy of the agreement here), it seems unlikely that any real substantive answers will be given. We can probably look forward to another Gonzalez-style “unable-to-recall”-fest, punctuated by invocations of Executive Privilege any time the questions start to hit too close to home.
Perhaps the best meat to come out of all of this will be the documents which are to be provided, though some of the most pertinent documents will merely be “described for Committee staff by a representative of the former President,” and others will only be shown and not given to the Committee.
For now we can only wait and watch for what table-scraps filter down to the public.
1 Response
NO oath is required for congressional testimony. 18 USC 1001 (copied below) make it a crime to lie to congress, regardless of whether there is an oath. Penalties are the same as traditional perjury, where an oath is given (as in a court of law). There is no difference. When oaths are given in congress, it is generally for the cameras or to remind the witness of his obligations. On the latter point, the same can be accomplished by reminding about a witness’s obligations under 18 usc 1001. This is a non issue.
18 USC Sec. 1001 01/03/2007
-EXPCITE-
TITLE 18 – CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I – CRIMES
CHAPTER 47 – FRAUD AND FALSE STATEMENTS
-HEAD-
Sec. 1001. Statements or entries generally
-STATUTE-
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully -
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a party to a judicial proceeding, or that party’s counsel, for statements, representations, writings or documents submitted by such party or counsel to a judge or magistrate in that proceeding.
(c) With respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, subsection (a) shall apply only to -
(1) administrative matters, including a claim for payment, a matter related to the procurement of property or services, personnel or employment practices, or support services, or a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch; or
(2) any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress, consistent with applicable rules of the House or Senate.
Posted on March 6th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
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