Editorial: This fight traces to Bush

Friday, July 27, 2007 | 7:29 a.m.

Th e escalating acrimony between Congress and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would not be occurring if the White House had obeyed federal law on wiretapping and had decided to be open and honest about why it dismissed nine U.S. attorneys.

As it stands, these issues are pitting the attorney general against both houses of Congress and threatening to thrust the government into a constitutional crisis over the respective powers of the legislative and executive branches.

We believe the White House has a responsibility to cooperate whenever Congress chooses to engage in its oversight responsibilities. Instead it is provoking animosity, as demonstrated by events that unfolded Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

For four hours on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to get Gonzales to clear up numerous questions surrounding the firing of the U.S. attorneys and the launching of an eavesdropping program following 9/11 that circumvented federal law requiring court approval.

Republican and Democratic senators alike expressed frustration about Gonzales' answers. "It's hard to see anything but a pattern of intentionally misleading Congress again and again," Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., told Gonzales. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had even harsher words. "Your credibility has been breached to the point of being actionable," he said, raising the possibility of a perjury charge against Gonzales.

On Wednesday the House Judiciary Committee approved contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers. On orders from President Bush, neither is cooperating with a House investigation into the attorney firings. Bush claims executive privilege allows his conversations with staff to be secret.

On Thursday Senate Democrats subpoenaed White House political adviser Karl Rove to find out what he knows about the attorney firings. Also, four Senate Democrats called for a special prosecutor to investigate whether Gonzales perjured himself.

Congress' aggressiveness is right, as to do otherwise would be to neglect its oversight duties. It is President Bush, with his secretiveness and tendency to abuse his power, who is responsible for the growing divide between Congress and his administration. He should order his staff to cooperate completely and should assume personal responsibility for any wrong decisions.