So the refusal of former Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten to give evidence in the US attorney firing scandal just moved them closer to a court date.
In a straight 21-17 party-line vote, the House Judiciary Committee this morning has said that the Dallas lawyer and the Kissinger acolyte should be cited for contempt of Congress. Chair John Conyers, D-MI, told members they had two days to make any further submissions. Conyers had written to Watergate veteran and White House counsel Fred Fielding last Thursday, saying the committee had rejected his claim that Bolten was covered by executive privilege, so it was no surprise that the committee made this new decision.
It also does not bode well for the Republican National Committee: even though Conyers had extended their deadline to comply with the subpoena for their files in matter until July 31, he’s already called their attempts to be covered by executive privilege unacceptable.
The next step is that the committee may refer their report to the full House: if they vote it out, then it will go to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who would empanel a grand jury. Then the question will be, will fellow Texan lawyer, fellow loyal Bushy and fellow House Judiciary Committee witness Attorney General Alberto Gonzales enforce any further rulings.
This article appears in July 20 • 2007.
