Consequences for ignoring congressional subpoenas: None

[AwesomeFreak]

Wednesday January 23, 2008 07:30 EST
Glen Greenwald-Salon.com

Back in July of last year -- more than six months ago -- the Senate and House Judiciary Committees were investigating the U.S. attorneys scandal and, as part of that investigation, they issued subpoenas to current Bush Chief of Staff Josh Bolton and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, "compelling" them to appear before the Committee to answer questions. While some Bush officials testified but cited "executive privilege" as a grounds for refusing to answer specific questions, both Miers and Bolton simply refused to show up at all -- literally just ignored the subpoena as though it were an invitation.

In the wake of that brazen contempt for Congress, all sorts of melodramatic denunciations and bold threats issued from Democratic leaders in Congress:

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called it "an outrageous abuse of executive privilege" and said: "The White House must stop stonewalling and start being accountable to Congress and the American people. No one, including the president, is above the law."

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) said the administration is "hastening a constitutional crisis," and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said the position "makes a mockery of the ideal that no one is above the law."

Wow; those are tough words: "hastening a constitutional crisis." "The White House must stop stonewalling." "No one, including the president, is above the law."

Since the White House announced to the world that it considered Congress' subpoenas to be laughable and worthless, what has happened? Exactly what Miers and Bolton knew would happen if they ignored the subpoenas: absolutely nothing of any consequence. Both Committees voted to issue contempt citations to the two officials, but Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi -- for months and months -- have refused to bring the matter to the floor for a full vote, a requirement for a witness to be held in contempt...

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[FiveGoodMen]

1. "No one, including the president, is above the law."

Not really true if no one makes them obey the law.

[bemildred]

2. Yep, it's all bullshit.

Our Congress is basically comprised of a bunch of gutless bullshitters.

[zeemike]

3. I could have predicted that

And in fact I think I did.
At some point we have to face the fact that we have lost control of the government to private untruest, if we are to ever get it back,

[tom_paine]

4. Imperial Amerika is a lawless and tyrannical nation

It just hasn't trickled down fully to us yet, but look around you, bit by bit it is. Just one more good shock to our system, perhaps the coming econoic calamity, perhaps the Bushies will 9-11 or anthrax us again, and we will see it become part of our daily lives.

Can the Bushies possibly continue this charade with the evil coiled and all ready to go in the form of their Tyrant's "Laws" (which they do not have to obey for they are above the law) and one=third ofthe nation programmed to be mentally similar to cold, ruthles Nazi stromtroopers?

I think not. Once Pandora's Box is open...

[gateley]

5. Didn't Condi refuse to testify about something, too?

So it's Reid and Pelosi who haven't pursued this?

Can we DEMAND their removal?