House Judiciary Committee to Vote on Contempt Charges for Miers and Bolten
posted by
Wally
12:05 PM
The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday on whether to hold current and former White House officials in contempt of Congress, signaling that Democratic lawmakers intend to press toward a constitutional showdown with the Bush administration over last year's firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
Today's announcement by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) puts House Democrats on a legal collision course with the White House, which said last week that it would not allow the Justice Department to pursue contempt charges brought by Congress.
The vote Wednesday would focus on the president's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, who is legal custodian of the records sought by the House panel, and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers, who ignored a congressional subpoena by refusing to show up to testify earlier this month.
Conyers said the decision to move forward with contempt proceedings was made reluctantly, but asserted that the committee had few options in the face of the refusals by the White House to comply with committee subpoenas. It's about time.
On a lighter note, Alberto Gonzalez is apparently preparing for his next career as a comedian, popping off the hilarious line "I will not tolerate any improper politicization of this department." He also claimed he's going to "fix the Justice Department's image" by staying there as it's leader. Woo man, that guy slays me!
Contempt
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