Politics on the Hudson

Sen. Charles Schumer had this to say today about President Bush’s refusal to allow Karl Rove and Harriet Miers to testify under oath:

“The bottom line is very simple. To paraphrase the Godfather, the White House made us an offer we can’t accept. We can’t accept it because it is no way to get at the truth. (White House spokesman Tony Snow) said today that the White House wants to get to the truth. Well, if they want to get to the truth, what is wrong with testimony under oath?

“Don’t we have oaths to ensure that the truth is given? Mr. Snow at one point stated incorrectly Karl Rove’s involvement and then corrected himself. No one’s saying there was any prevarication there. But with so many misstatements that have been out there, so many corrections, doesn’t it make sense to interview witnesses with a transcript under oath?

“If we don’t, we will never get to the bottom of this. Democrats want to resolve this quickly. We want to get the facts. We want to find out what went wrong. But when the President gives an offer that really doesn’t allow the truth to be gotten – no transcript, no oaths, no public testimony. It doesn’t serve the purpose of finding out what happened, resolving it quickly, in a fair and nonpartisan way, and them moving on. I would hope that the White House would reconsider its offer, and be willing to negotiate. But then we can finally get to the bottom of all this.”