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.

Defying Subpoenas

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."

Next Steps

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.

Lengthy Debate

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."

Fired Attorneys Investigation

The investigation on the firings of the U.S. attorneys has been going on since March when it was revealed that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, had communicated with the White House about which prosecutors were to be terminated.

Ranking member Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said, "We have spent an extraordinary amount of time on this investigation and still have found no crime. Why don't we spend our time on what we alone can do, which is to legislate."

"The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General and others can sort through the gatherings of the investigation so far and see it through to the end," Smith said.

Conyers said to the full committee, "I began this investigation with a simple question: Who put the list of fired U.S. attorneys together and why? I would think it would be in everyone's interest to get the facts on the table."

Committee Republicans reiterated that the U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and that the congressional inquiry has shown little evidence of wrong doing by the White House.

"One thing there is not a lot of is evidence," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. "The partisan result of what we do will have a profound effect."

Executive Privilege Issues

On the issue of Miers' refusal to comply with the subpoena, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., said the issue was over "whether private citizens can exert executive privilege."

It is unclear whether Democrats will bring this to the full House for consideration, but the pressure to have the White House comply with the request for testimony and documents has been kicked up another notch. The House could begin to consider the recommendation after its summer recess.

In Wednesday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Tony Snow called the move "pathetic."

"What you have right now is partisanship on Capitol Hill that quite often boils down to insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations," he charged.

Previous Actions

Today's vote comes on the heels of the House Judiciary's commercial and administrative law subcommittee's vote last week to reject the White House's claim of executive privilege in the ongoing U.S. attorney firings investigation. The vote was 7-3 along party lines.

Sanchez, the subcommittee's chairwoman, said during that meeting, "The White House has thus far chosen a path of confrontation. … Executive privilege must be used judiciously."

The committee has also subpoenaed the Republican National Committee for e-mails pertaining to the prosecutors' ouster, and the RNC indicated to the panel that it is consulting with the White House on executive privilege concerns. Conyers has asked the RNC to respond to the subpoena by July 31.

ABC News' Jennifer Duck contributed to this report.