« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
House Files Motion in White House Contempt Case
Last month, the judge handling the House's suit against Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Josh Bolten set a schedule that will culminate in a June hearing, when both sides will get to argue. Up until then, both sides will be submitting written arguments pleading their side of the case.
First up were lawyers for the House, who wrote, "Not since the days of Watergate have the Congress and the federal courts been confronted with such an expansive view of executive privilege as the one asserted by the current presidential administration and the individual Defendants in this case." You can read the entire 45-page motion here.
House lawyers, following through on the contempt citations from the House Judiciary Committee, are trying to convince the judge to rule with them on certain narrower questions of executive privilege in an attempt to actually get hear from Harriet Miers and see some White House documents relevant to the U.S. attorney firings sometime this year.
Josh
Zachary
Bolton and Miers are surely quacking in their boots now. More sharply worded missives; the horror!
April 11, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bushie, while I like the image of Bolten and Miers, both wearing boots, quacking, I know you mean quaking.
But this is more than a strongly worded letter. This is contempt of Congress—not the threat of it, and certainly not just a scolding.
This is where Congress puts the whole executive privilege and unitary executive philosophy out in the open, in all its ugly glory. And now is the time when we all have to get to work and make sure that the MSM doesn't ignore it.
April 11, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the correction, though on further consideration, I like the visual of them quacking in their boots :-]
I also agree with your assessment. The problem is Congress is broken, and changing Presidents isn’t going to fix that, nor will this Congress nor the next do their duties, especially with hide bound GOPers and Blue Dog DINOs.
April 11, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's where pushing the MSM comes in. Nothing makes Congress take action like negative exposure in an election year. The public that knows what the ramifications for Bush/Cheney's philosophy are have become increasingly uncomfortable with it. So the more people who can hear this talked up, the better.
And a Congress that takes action about it is a Congress that gets reelected.
April 11, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink