Fielding not Bush gave Rove a free pass from HJC subpoena and hearing.

Emptywheel of FDL:

First, according to the statement Sanchez put out, Fred Fielding did intervene to give a last minute reprieve to Karl--though still without invoking executive privilege.

First, the claims have not been properly asserted here. The Subcommittee has not received a written statement directly from the President, let alone anyone at the White House on the President’s behalf, asserting Executive Privilege, or claiming that Mr. Rove is immune in this instance from testifying before us. Nor is any member of the White House here today to raise those claims on behalf of the President. The most recent letter from Mr. Rove’s lawyer simply relies on a July 9, 2008 letter to him from the current White House counsel directing that Mr. Rove should disobey the subpoena and refuse to appear at this hearing.

The July 9, 2008 letter from White House Counsel Fred Fielding claims that Mr. Rove “is constitutionally immune from compelled congressional testimony about matters that arose during his or her tenure as a presidential aide and that relate to his or her official duties.”2

Frankly, I think that letter, dated July 9, may have arrived very late on yesterday. Sanchez did not mention it in her spoken statement today, nor did Ranking Subcommittee Member Chris Cannon.

I'll take that as confirmation from Nixon's former lawyer that Karl Rove's official duties included intervening in criminal investigations and trials to make sure popular Democrats' careers were ruined.

Although it was Fielding who invoked executive privilege for Rove and not Bush, Bush is still the person that is held accountable. Fielding is basically Bush's henchman to get his hands dirty.Fielding served as Associate Counsel for Nixon from 1970 to 1972. So, this is nothing new for Fielding.

Keep in mind that Fielding invoked executive privilege for Rove before: U.S. Attorney firing scandal. On March 20, 2007, the White House offered to grant members of Congress private interviews with Rove, Miers, and two of their deputies, conducted with neither oaths nor transcripts. In June 2007, Fielding wrote in a letter to Sen. Leahy and Rep. Conyers, "I write at the direction of the President to advise and inform you that the President has decided to assert executive privilege and therefore the White House will not be making any production in response to these subpoenas for documents."