Increasing the pressure on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a subpoena Wednesday afternoon demanding all e-mails in Gonzales’ possession by presidential adviser Karl Rove relating to the probe into the ouster of eight U.S. attorneys.

In a May 2 letter to Gonzales, Leahy noted he has been trying for some time to get the e-mails. Rove’s attorney has stated that Gonzales has some of these e-mails because they were being used by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in his probe of the Valerie Plame matter. Leahy demanded the documents by May 15, or else he wants the attorney general to appear before the committee to testify as to their whereabouts.

— Rachel Van Dongen