Judiciary Committee to Consider Contempt Proceedings for Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolton
July 23rd, 2007 by Jesse Lee
From the Judiciary Committee:
House Judiciary Committee to Consider Contempt Proceedings for Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolton
(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) announced that the Committee will meet Wednesday, July 25, at 10:15 am in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building to vote on contempt citations for former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton, following their refusal to comply with subpoenas issued in the U.S. Attorney investigation.
“This investigation, including the reluctant but necessary decision to move forward with contempt, has been a very deliberative process, taking care at each step to respect the Executive Branch’s legitimate prerogatives,” Conyers said. “I’ve allowed the White House and Ms. Miers every opportunity to cooperate with this investigation, either voluntarily or under subpoena. It is still my hope that they will reconsider this hard-line position, and cooperate with our investigation so that we can get to the bottom of this matter.”
The contempt of Congress citations are being considered in response to Miers and Bolton’s failure to comply with subpoenas issued by the Committee for documents and testimony, including Miers’ refusal to even appear at her scheduled hearing on July 12. White House Counsel Fred Fielding alerted the Committee on June 28 that the White House would not provide the documents as required by the subpoena, asserting the President’s executive privilege.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her support over the weekend:Pelosi promises congressional contempt charge for Harriet Miers
Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle - July 22, 2007
Congress this week will take the next step to force the Bush administration to hand over information about the dismissal of U.S. attorneys and the politicization of the Justice Department, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday.
The House Judiciary Committee will bring contempt of Congress charges against the administration this week, said the San Francisco Democrat. She did not specify who the subject of the action would be, but Pelosi spokesman, Brendan Daly, said later it would be former White House counsel Harriet Miers, who defied a House Judiciary Committee subpoena to appear.
“They have disregarded the call of Congress for information about their politicizing the Department of Justice. We can document that. Those are actual facts and we will bring the contempt of Congress forth,” said Pelosi, who spoke with reporters at a San Francisco workshop for people who want to become U.S. citizens.
This is good news and necessary. The idea of executive privilege has been used wrongly in this instance. Pelosi is bending. Let's see if she will take impeachment off the table now. Just keep sending letters and emails and call her office.
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