Harriet Miers is going to blow off a congressional subpoena tomorrow and simply fail to appear before a House Judiciary subcommittee. Conyers and Chairwoman Sanchez are not amused:
“We are aware of absolutely no court decision that supports the notion that a former White House official has the option of refusing to even appear in response to a Congressional subpoena. To the contrary, the courts have made clear that no present or former government official – even the President – is above the law and may completely disregard a legal directive such as the Committee’s subpoena.”
It’s a long fall from Supreme Court nominee to cellmate #224357, or whatever number they wind up giving her. She better hope she gets a pardon.
Update [2007-7-11 16:59:49 by BooMan]: Marty Lederman presents the options and has some predictions.
What, she’s too busy and too important to even bother coming in and pretending to try to testify like Taylor did today?
It’s like they’re flat-out daring Congress to do anything about it.
oh please, marty.
Sorry to be so disdainful, but nothing is going to happen to Harriet Miers. Conyers won’t do shit. Talk talk talk is all you’ll see.
Just like Leahy won’t do shit about Sara Taylor’s narishkeit this afternoon.
Tell you what: I’ll buy you two beers AND a shot next week if there are consequences for Harriet. No, make it two beers, a shot, and a burger.
It’ll probably be too early to know by next Tuesday, but a contact on the house judiciary committee tells me that they are going to pursue litigation.
They could actually arrest Miers tomorrow and hold her in a capitol prison and have a trial in the House. It’s called Inherent Contempt.
I doubt they’ll do that, but I am strenuously advocating that they do.
then the wager remains open until then.
Knowing that anyone in the Bush administration charged with criminal contempt of Congress will, if convicted, receive a presidential commutation of sentence or full pardon, is it any wonder Congress doesn’t bring such charges?
Bush has stymied law enforcement with the abuse of executive privilege and obstructed justice with his arrogant interference into jury verdicts and judge’s sentencing while he and his immediate coven of cronies go on lying and breaking the law.
Correction: Justice isn’t merely corrupted by him, it has been destroyed.
In an orderly world, Contempt of Congress proceedings would ensue. In BushWorld, umm, not so much. Cue the march of the spineless CongressDrones.
I vote for option two. Have Congress try her and toss her in the pokey until she complies.
Bush is struggling to make this last until his term is over – he appears to have much to hide and cover-up. With Pelosi giving him a blank check by practically guaranteeing not to impeach he may make it. He wants to get this into his courts where it could last until he is in a rest home. Let’s see if a leader can step up and make something happen – we might be surprised that someone other than a Democrat could be the one.
I’m not going to hold my breath on that one. Principled Republicans do exist, but they’re filtered out at the primary level.
He’s struggling to make it last until the country suffers another terror attack – at that point, he can invoke the Presidential Directive that makes him George IV and his problems will be over. Ours on the other hand will just be beginning, especially if the blogverse is just a way of outing dissenters in the way that Mao’s “let a thousand flowers bloom” was a way of telling who should be arrested and imprisoned as a threat to the State. (Ok, I’m paranoid…)