[sanjuro]

I think if the Congress' approval rating is worse than the President, this is the kind of stuff that will make people applaud.

Judge Rules White House Aides Can Be Subpoenaed
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:46 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's top advisers are not immune from congressional subpoenas, a federal judge ruled Thursday in an unprecedented dispute between the two political branches.

The House Judiciary Committee wants to question the president's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former legal counsel Harriet Miers, about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. But President Bush says they are immune from such subpoenas. They say Congress can't force them to testify or turn over documents.

U.S. District Judge John Bates disagreed. He said there's no legal basis for that argument. He said that Miers must appear before Congress and, if she wants to refuse to testify, she must do so in person.

"Harriet Miers is not immune from compelled congressional process; she is legally required to testify pursuant to a duly issued congressional subpoena," Bates wrote.

He said that both Bolten and Miers must give Congress all non-privileged documents related to the firings.

The Bush administration can appeal the ruling. The Justice Department did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

 

[jimmydean]

Don't forget the best part!

Bates, who was appointed to the bench by Bush, issued a 93-page opinion that strongly rejected the administration's legal arguments. He noted that the executive branch could not point to a single case in which courts held that White House aides were immune from congressional subpoenas.

 

[$tinkle]

i never could quite square the whole operating in an extra-judicial framework. i know there are strong arguments for executive priv, but not so strong as to escape what cannot reasonably be determined as frivolous or related to nat'l security.

w can "open his heart" but can't open his books?

while bates is spot on, he's probably still carrying around anger about that surname.

 

[BurlyShirley]

i never could quite square the whole operating in an extra-judicial framework. i know there are strong arguments for executive priv, but not so strong as to escape what cannot reasonably be determined as frivolous or related to nat'l security.

w can "open his heart" but can't open his books?

while bates is spot on, he's probably still carrying around anger about that surname.

He'd have been a hell of a slave owner.

 

[sanjuro]

i never could quite square the whole operating in an extra-judicial framework. i know there are strong arguments for executive priv, but not so strong as to escape what cannot reasonably be determined as frivolous or related to nat'l security.

w can "open his heart" but can't open his books?

while bates is spot on, he's probably still carrying around anger about that surname.

Let me state the obvious: the Cheney Administration always believed they were above the laws of America.

So did the Clintons, but I believe that they felt that the "universal love" they felt would protect them from scandal and prosecution. Cheney learned from their mistakes and made all his moves in stealth mode.

 

[jonKranked]

Also, Carl Rove has been placed in Contempt for failing to appear for a subpoena as well.

 

[jimmydean]

Also, Carl Rove has been placed in Contempt for failing to appear for a subpoena as well.

Yes, but he's not real, so it doesn't count.

 

[reflux]

Yes, but he's not real, so it doesn't count.

I believe you're thinking of The Brady Bunch, and that name was George Glass.

Did that report about the Justice Dept hiring practices already circulate through PAWN?

 

[jimmydean]

Did that report about the Justice Dept hiring practices already circulate through PAWN?

I don't think there was any need because it was obvious and therefore not news.