Harriet Miers, Joshua Bolton to Face Contempt Charges

Posted by Guest Blogger at 8:54 AM on July 23, 2007.

This post, written by Harriet Miers, originally appeared on Raw Story

Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, the current Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, will likely be charged with contempt by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday this week.

"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," said Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in a statement. "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."

Through an attorney, Miers had earlier stated that she does not fear contempt charges. She refused to comply with a subpoena and appear before the House Committee on July 12 as part of the investigation into the firing of 9 US Attorneys. Bolten also has failed to turn over documents sought by House Democrats. The Bush chief of staff was ordered to comply with the subpoena by 10 AM this morning.

UPDATE: Pelosi suggests she supports contempt charges for Harriet Miers

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi implied through her official website that she will support contempt charges that could be brought in the full House of Representatives against White House Counsel Harriet Miers.

Jesse Lee, who produces the Speaker's official blog, The Gavel, suggested that Pelosi supports the contempt charges that the House Judiciary Committee will bring up on Wednesday.

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her support over the weekend," Lee wrote Monday morning as he pointed to a San Francisco Chronicle article published Sunday.

In the Chronicle article, reporter Wyatt Buchanan reported that Miers would face contempt charges at the weekend.

"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," Buchanan quoted the California Democrat saying at a weekend appearance in San Francisco.

Monday morning, the House Judiciary Committee announced that it will consider contempt charges for Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in a Wednesday hearing. After the Committee votes, a contempt charges will be referred to the full House.

Pelosi has come in for criticism from her party's progressive wing for stating repeatedly that tough measures like impeachment were 'off the table' in the 110th Congress.

White House on contempt proceedings: 'Spectacle'

In Monday afternoon's press conference, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow dismissed the contempt charges as "a fishing expedition that's woefully short on fish."

He repeated the White House's offer for off-the-record interviews for officials like Miers on the US Attorneys firings, and suggested that the Justice Department was unlikely to proceed with contempt charges, "if precedent is any guide."

However, he insisted that the White House would not make that judgment for the Justice Department.

"You have to leave that up to the Justice Department, they have to make that determination," he said.

Snow had earlier pointed to quotes from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in 1999 and 2000 in which he called the threat of contempt charges against Clinton administration officials a 'spectacle.' Leahy also noted, according to the White House Press Secretary, that there was a Justice Department tradition of refusing to bring contempt charges against White House officials.

After a vote is held in the Committee, the contempt charges must be passed by the full House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Saturday that she would support contempt charges at the least for Miers.

Tagged as: bush, bolton, conyers, miers

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