by Nick Langewis and David Edwards
The Raw Story
Published: Thursday May 15, 2008

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) is still on the hunt for former Bush strategist Karl Rove.

"We're closing in on Rove," Conyers was heard saying today on the House floor, according to a source for Politico. "Someone's got to kick his ass."

Rove, having refused to obey a subpoena calling for testimony on his role in the dubious prosecution of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman, has a week to change his mind. If he doesn't show, Conyers said: "We'll do what any self-respecting committee would do. We'd hold him in contempt. Either that or go and have him arrested."

"We want him for so many things, it's hard to keep track," he added.

The House Judiciary Committee has rejected an offer by Rove to respond in writing instead of testifying under oath. Rove had previously agreed to speak, but only off the record, and without a written transcription.

House Rep. and Judiciary Commitee chair Robert Wexler (D-FL) tells MSNBC's Dan Abrams in the interview embedded below that the Committee is prepared to issue another subpoena, followed by a request to Attorney General Michael Mukasey to enforce the subpoena.

If that effort fails, then Rove will be held in contempt of Congress, Wexler says.

"Karl Rove and [the Bush administration] have thumbed their nose at Congress," says Gov. Siegelman. "They have clearly engaged in systematic and calculated abuses of power relating not just to the abuse of the Department of Justice, but to other areas of importance to the American people. And Congress, rightfully so, should press Karl Rove to come and testify under oath and answer these questions."

Gov. Siegelman urges the national media to help persuade Congress to investigate. "This is the time, and this is the moment," Siegelman says, "for Congress to stand up and be counted on this issue."

This video is from MSNBC's Verdict, broadcast May 14, 2008.