House Committee to Initiate Hearings on Abuse of Presidential Power

From AfterDowningStreet.org:

(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. announced that he will be holding a full committee hearing next week titled, “The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials.” The hearing will be held next Wednesday, July 11, at 10:15 am in the committee’s hearing room, 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.

“In light of yesterday’s announcement by the President that he was commuting the prison sentence for Scooter Libby, it is imperative that Congress look into presidential authority to grant clemency, and how such power may be abused,” Conyers said. “Taken to its extreme, the use of such authority could completely circumvent the law enforcement process and prevent credible efforts to investigate wrongdoing in the executive branch.”

Who: The House Judiciary Committee

Witnesses, TBA

What: “The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials”

When: Wednesday, July 11, 2007, 10:15 am

Where: 2141 Rayburn House Office Building

See statements on the commuting of Scooter Libby’s sentence from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=547