The End of Miers?

Maybe. Charles Krauthammer wrote on Friday that a way for Republicans to reject Miers while giving the President room to save face would be for the Senate to demand work-product she created while the White House Counsel. There is no way the President could do this since it would completely undermine executive privilege. The Senate therefor has a way out.

Why this could actually happen is that Sen. Brownback on Fox New Sunday practically parroted this idea. He said, in effect, that by nominating an insider the President has waived privilege.

WALLACE: Well, let me pick up on that, Senator Brownback, because I know that this week you joined with Senator Lindsey Graham in asking the White House to release some of her work product there.

Are you asking the White House to waive executive privilege, and if they refuse to do so, would that be a deal breaker?

BROWNBACK: Well, I think that's almost a — them providing this type of information from the White House is almost a risk they assume when you nominate a candidate that's from inside the White House.

We need to know if we're going to give advice and consent, and that's our role in this process — it's not a rubber stamp. If we're to give advice and consent, we've got to have a full picture. In the last five years that she's been working, it's in the White House.

Is it a deal breaker or not? I really couldn't put it at that point, but I do think we're going to have to see more information, not attorney-client privilege type information, but more information of the work product that she was involved in, in the White House that's not of a legal nature, but that's of a policy nature.

We'll see how far this idea goes, but it looks like it's going to have legs with conservatives who are uncomfortable with the Miers nomination.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:01 AM