Times: Editorial privilege should not succeed in Senate investigation of fired attorneys

The Bush Administration is attempting to assert executive privilege to keep key aides from testifying before the Senate in its investigation of what led to the firing of eight U. S. attorneys, including Bud Cummins of Arkansas. Today's New York Times features an examination of that claim:

This may well end up in a constitutional showdown. If it does, there is no question about which side should prevail. Congress has a right, and an obligation, to examine all of the evidence, which increasingly suggests that the Bush administration fired eight or more federal prosecutors either because they were investigating Republicans, or refusing to bring baseless charges against Democrats. The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Watergate tapes case, and other legal and historical precedents, make it clear that executive privilege should not keep Congress from getting the testimony it needs.

Cummins was in the midst of an investigation into the awarding of lucrative license fee office contracts by Governor Matt Blunt's administration when he was asked to resign.