House Judiciary will vote on contempt citations

The House Judiciary Committee will decide this week whether to issue contempt citations for former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, both of whom have refused to comply with congressional subpoenas for information related to an investigation of the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys.

{mosads} Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) announced that the committee has scheduled a Wednesday vote on the contempt citations, which likely will spark a constitutional showdown between the two branches that could reach the Supreme Court.

The House and Senate judiciary panels have been trying to gauge White House involvement in the U.S. attorneys’ firings and whether political considerations played any improper role in their dismissals. But the White House has not budged, and last week indicated it will assert blanket executive privilege to deny Democrats access to discussions between presidential and vice presidential aides.

Miers and Bolten refused to comply with Judiciary Committee subpoenas issued for documents and testimony, and Miers failed to appear at a July 12 hearing. White House Counsel Fred Fielding first asserted the president’s executive privilege June 28.