Senate Dems Call for Gonzo Perjury Probe, Subpoena Rove

Senators Schumer, Feinstein, Feingold and Whitehouse have just called for a special counsel to investigate Fredo, while at the same time Leahy has issued a subpoena for Karl Rove.

"We have now reached a point where the accumulated evidence shows that political considerations factored into the unprecedented firing of at least nine United States Attorneys last year," said Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee....

"It has become apparent that the attorney general has provided at a minimum half-truths and misleading statements," four members of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote in a letter to Solictor General Paul Clement.

They asked Clement to immediately appoint an indepedent counsel from outside the Justice Department to determine whether Gonzales "may have misled Congress or perjured himself in testimony before Congress."

"We do not make this request lightly," wrote Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

An excellent development to add to the Judiciary Committee's vote yesterday on contempt. The full House needs to vote out the contempt citation before leaving for August recess. Let's get this ball rolling.

Update: Think Progress has video of the press conference with Schumer, Feinstein, Feingold, and Whitehouse.