NYT editorial: In Contempt (Pelosi should schedule a vote quickly on Miers and Bolten)

[ProSense]

Editorial

In Contempt

Published: November 16, 2007

White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, showed their utter disregard for Congress, the Constitution and the American people when they defied Congressional subpoenas in the United States attorneys scandal. The House Judiciary Committee rightly voted to hold them in contempt, and now the matter goes to the full House.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi should schedule a vote quickly, the House should hold them in contempt and Attorney General Michael Mukasey should ensure that they are punished for their defiance of the nation’s law.

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They had no right to refuse. Congress has the legal power to call witnesses to testify, and presidential advisers are not exempt. Conservative lawyers like Bruce Fein agree that the administration’s claims of executive privilege are baseless. If the White House believes specific matters are privileged, it needs to make those limited claims.

Such defiance is not only illegal, it has seriously obstructed Congress’s ability to get to the bottom of the United States attorneys scandal. It now appears that the scandal reaches beyond the nine federal prosecutors who were fired for refusing to allow their offices to be politicized. It seems quite possible that others, including Georgia Thompson, a civil servant in Wisconsin, and Don Siegelman, a former governor of Alabama, were put in prison — and Mr. Siegelman remains there — to help Republicans win elections.

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[ProSense]

1. White House aides face contempt charges

White House aides face contempt charges

Elana Schor in Washington
Friday November 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said today she plans to call a vote on holding Bush administration aides in contempt of Congress.

However, she declined to commit to a timetable for escalating the constitutional clash with the White House, which centres on the dismissal of eight United States attorneys by then attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.

Pelosi said freshman Democrats have taken the lead on counting votes for a contempt finding against Josh Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, former Bush counsel.

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John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the House judiciary committee, has pushed for action against the two Bush aides this year since filing his official contempt report on November 5.

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2. KICK & RECOMMEND & HOLD IN CONTEMPT