So, do you think the House leadership will pull the trigger and kick this fight over to the courts?
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey Friday said he will not ask a federal grand jury to investigate whether two top Bush administration officials should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday asked Mukasey to look into whether White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers committed contempt of Congress in the investigation of the 2006 firings of several U.S. attorneys.
Pelosi said the two were unresponsive to Congress’ inquiry, while the White House argues that contempt laws don’t apply to the president or any of his staffers who invoke executive privilege.
Mukasey, a Bush appointee, agreed.
“The department has determined that the noncompliance by Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers with the Judiciary Committee subpoenas did not constitute a crime,” Mukasey wrote in a letter to Pelosi.
“Therefore the department will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers.”
[...]
Pelosi and Conyers said the Judiciary Committee anticipated Mukasey’s response and is preparing to file a lawsuit in federal district court to try to enforce the committee’s subpoenas of Miers and Bolten.
I wonder if she’ll go through with it since this will the precedent that they may not want.
posted March 1, 2008 at 12:14 pm
“The department has determined that the noncompliance by Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers with the Judiciary Committee subpoenas did not constitute a crime,” Mukasey wrote in a letter to Pelosi.
Sounds to me like the next Democratic President just got carte blanche to thumb their nose at a GOP Congress.
posted March 1, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I don’t think the next Democratic President needs to even worry about having a GOP Congress since it probably won’t happen.
posted March 2, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Even if she does sue and win, somebody at Justice would still be required to enforce the decision. This is a dead issue and she should drop it.
posted March 3, 2008 at 4:19 am
just goes to show how corrupt and how widespread conservative cronyism is.
posted March 3, 2008 at 9:16 am
That’s so funny when you think of the Clinton years and how the Congress is in bed with the trial lawyers who are suing the telecoms.
posted March 5, 2008 at 2:42 am
in bed with?
you mean like how republicans are protecting their election year dollars by giving telecoms a free pass to break the law?
i’m glad that you bring up telecoms… it’s actually relevant here. even more power grab and excessive use of “executive privilege” by the president, and let’s not forget the illegal activity cloaked in secrecy.
heck, i’m quite glad that they’re being sued for violating the law.
what is it with you nixonites and your craving for spying on american citizens, anyway?
pelosi should sue and reassert the powers of congressional oversight of the executive branch. if conservatives are so sure that what bush is covering up is perfectly legal then i’d think that they would welcome the challenge to have bragging rights in the end. like you all say with respect to domestic spying, “if he’s not doing anything wrong, what’s to hide?”