By Seth Stern, CQ Staff

Karl Rove has declined to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee, despite a subpoena directing him to appear, his attorney told the committee on July 1.

Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, cited executive privilege as the reason that the former White House adviser would not appear before the Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee on July 10.

Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. , D-Mich., issued the subpoena on May 22 to force Rove to testify about allegations that the Justice Department has engaged in politically motivated prosecutions of Democratic officials, including former Alabama governor Donald Siegelman.

“Mr. Rove will respectfully decline to appear before the Subcommittee on July 10 on the grounds that Executive Privilege confers upon him immunity from process to respond to a subpoena directed to this subject,” Luskin wrote.

Luskin renewed an offer that would have Rove submit to an off-the-record, untranscribed interview or answer written questions about the Siegelman case, but not the broader issue of the politicization of the Justice Department.

Conyers and Linda T. Sánchez, D-Calif., who chairs the subcommittee, rejected that proposal in a letter Thursday to Luskin. The lawmakers indicated they still expect Rove to appear on July 10.

“A refusal to appear in violation of the subpoena could subject Mr. Rove to contempt proceedings, including statutory contempt under federal law and proceedings under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives,” Conyers and Sánchez wrote.

Conyers previously had released a May 5 letter from the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility informing Conyers that it is probing the Siegelman case and others.