Consider the following facts: Jeffrey Sterling served as a CIA officer from 1993 to January 31, 2002. During that time, he became acquainted with a clandestine operational program that was designed to disrupt the nuclear development activities of Iran. According to a book later written by James Risen, this program involved a “botched attempt under [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Congressional Privileges category.
More on the Clemens Subpoena
As promised in my last post, I want to follow up on the Speech or Debate argument made by COGR in support of its motion to quash the Clemens subpoena. At first blush, there would not seem to be much to discuss. There is little question that the type of oversight and investigative committee records [...]
Roger Clemens, Congressional Privilege, and the Right to a Fair Trial
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (COGR) has moved to quash the Clemens subpoena on the grounds that the investigative documents sought are protected by Speech or Debate. I will discuss COGR’s substantive Speech or Debate argument in a future post; for now I want to focus on the relationship between the Speech or Debate privilege and [...]
And You Thought No One Read Point of Order
By letter of March 11, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform corrected its prior notice to reflect that the subpoena it received was in a criminal, not a civil, case. One mystery solved. Tweet
House Subpoena Notices
As we have previously discussed, House Rule VIII requires that upon being properly served with a subpoena relating to the official functions of the House, a member, officer or employee shall “promptly notify the Speaker of its receipt in writing” and “[s]uch notification shall promptly be laid before the House by the Speaker.” On February [...]
Clemens Plays Hard(in) Ball with Congress
I know what you’re thinking. How long did it take me to come up with that title? (Couple hours, tops). Anyway, as has been widely reported, Roger Clemens and his attorney, Rusty Hardin, have subpoenaed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (COGR) in relation to the upcoming criminal case against Clemens for congressional [...]
Legislative Privilege and the Courts in America
At the time that the Constitution was ratified, it was unclear to what extent the Congress would enjoy the inherent privileges of the British Parliament. Writing around 1800, Thomas Jefferson noted the arguments for and against recognizing congressional privileges beyond those explicitly conferred by the Constitution (such as the Speech or Debate privilege). In favor [...]
Legislative Privilege in Britain
Legislative privilege is a concept that long pre-dates the Constitution, and was inherited from the British Parliament by the colonial legislatures, then by the state legislatures and finally by the Congress. As Jefferson wrote in opening the discussion of privilege in his Manual of Parliamentary Practice (a work he prepared for his own guidance as [...]