House Dems Move Contempt Citations Forward

July 25, 2007 — -- The House Judiciary Committee has advanced contempt charges against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten in the ongoing investigation into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

The action was taken in response to Miers' and Bolten's failure to comply with a subpoena requesting they supply documents and testimony to the committee regarding the firings.

By a party line vote of 22-17, House Judiciary Democrats passed a resolution and report recommending the full House of Representatives find Miers and Bolten in contempt of Congress.

White House counsel Fred Fielding notified the House and Senate Judiciary committees June 28 that the administration would invoke executive privilege and refuse to provide documents and witnesses in the U.S. attorney investigation.

Then July 12, Miers failed to appear in front of the House Judiciary Committee, defying the subpoena. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a former U.S. attorney, said, "To blow off a subpoena and not show up … is beyond the pale."

If the measure wins a majority of votes before the legislative body, it then advances to the District of Columbia's U.S. attorney.

But late Tuesday, the Justice Department sent a letter to the House committee, expressing the Justice Department's position that such a citation does not apply to White House appointees like Miers and Bolten who have invoked executive privilege.

Contempt of Congress results in a federal misdemeanor charge that comes with a potential punishment of a fine up to $100,000 and a one-year prison term.

For almost two hours, the committee debated a report on the reasons to find the White House aides in contempt for refusing to comply with the subpoenas.

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said, "It is not a step that I as chairman take easily or lightly, but it is one I believe is necessary not only to allow us to gain an accurate picture of the facts surrounding the U.S. attorneys controversy, but to protect our constitutional prerogatives as a co-equal branch of government."