We’re going to court:
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to a letter she received late this afternoon from U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey stating that the Administration is refusing to enforce contempt of Congress citations against former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten:
“By ordering the U.S. Attorney to take no action in response to congressional subpoenas, the Bush Administration is continuing to politicize law enforcement, which undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system.
“Anticipating this response from the Administration, the House has already provided authority for the Judiciary Committee to file a civil enforcement action in federal district court and the House shall do so promptly. The American people demand that we uphold the law. As public officials, we take an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect our system of checks and balances and our civil lawsuit seeks to do just that.”
Here’s John Conyers:
From the Judiciary Committee on the DOJ decision:
Conyers Outraged at Justice Department Contempt Decision Vows to Enforce Subpoenas
(Washington, DC)- Today, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) reacted to the Justice Department’s decision not to present contempt citations against former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to a grand jury, despite a statutory obligation to do so:
“Our investigation into the firing of United States Attorneys revealed an Administration and a Justice Department that seemed to put politics first, and today’s decision to shelve the contempt process, in violation of a federal statute, shows that the White House will go to any lengths to keep its role in the US Attorney firings hidden. In the face of such extraordinary actions, we have no choice but to proceed with a lawsuit to enforce the Committee’s subpoenas.”
I wonder if this could go all the way to Inherent Contempt proceedings or whether the clock will just run out.
