I'm watching the progress of the Roberts confirmation. Today the White House is refusing to turn over certain papers on the basis that there exists an attorney-client privilege between Roberts and the President.
What I find amusing is this: The US Constitution does not define an attorney-client privilege. Historically such privileges are created by legislatures that enact laws and judges who create common-law precedents. Yet much of what this administration desires from its nominee is that he/she take a restricted view of what can be drawn from the Constitution.
In other words, the President is using a principle that it imputes from the Constitution in order to seat a judge who will (it hopes) find such imputations improper.
Posted by karl at July 26, 2005 8:25 AM