The US Senate Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Wednesday, demanding that he turn over any e-mails he received from White House political adviser Karl Rove relating to the US Attorney firing scandal. A White House spokesman accused the Committee of trying to create a media event and suggested that it should instead accept a White House offer to interview Rove in a private questioning session, not under oath. Gonzales has insisted that there was nothing improper about the US Attorney firings.

A series of emails released by the Department of Justice in March revealed that Rove originally suggested firing all 93 US Attorneys in January 2005, contradicting earlier assertions by the White House that the idea first came from former White House counsel Harriet Miers. The same month, the Senate Judiciary Committee panel subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and former DOJ Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson, rejecting Bush's interview offer. The House Judiciary Committee panel later subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and several aides to testify in a concurrent investigation.