Another ridiculous claim of the imperial idiot shot down by the courts

Miers must testify, and Bolton must turn over the requested documents. That was the decision of U.S. District Judge John Bates (appointed by this president) earlier today. An appeal by the administration is expected.

Congressional Democrats called the ruling a ringing endorsement of the principle that nobody is above the law. They swiftly announced that the Bush officials who have defied their subpoenas, including Bush's former top adviser Karl Rove, must appear as part of a probe of whether the White House directed the firings of nine federal prosecutors. Democrats announced plans to open hearings at the height of election season.

In his ruling Judge Bates found that there is no legal basis for Bush's argument.

"Harriet Miers is not immune from compelled congressional process; she is legally required to testify pursuant to a duly issued congressional subpoena," Bates wrote. He said that both Bolten and Miers must give Congress all nonprivileged documents related to the firings.

The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration's efforts to bolster the power of the executive branch at the expense of the legislative branch. Disputes over congressional subpoenas are normally resolved through political compromise, not through the court system. Had Bush prevailed, it would have dramatically weakened congressional authority in oversight investigations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called it "very good news for anyone who believes in the Constitution of the United States and the separation of powers, and checks and balances" and said the ruling applies as well to Rove, who like Miers and Bolten has been cited by the Judiciary Committee for contempt.

"This decision should send a clear signal to the Bush administration that it must cooperate fully with Congress and that former administration officials Harriet Miers and Karl Rove must testify before Congress," Pelosi said.

Tony Fratto, White House spokeshole, said that the decision was being reviewed and declined further comment.

The 93 page ruling was scathing in it's rejection of the arguments offered by the bu$h administration, and pointed out that the administration could not point to a single instance in case law to support their ridiculous assertions.

See you in court...

For the first time in history, the federal courts are charged with deciding whether or not congressional subpoenas of the executive branch shall be enforced. Think about that for a moment - for the first time in the history of our country, a presidential administration has been so obstinate and insistent that the rules don't apply to them that the House Judiciary Committee was forced to sue in the court system to have their constitutionally proscribed role upheld.

At issue is whether the administration can prevent White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton and former White House Council Harriet Miers from testifying before the committee about the U.S. Attorney purge scandal. The White House claims that executive privilege extends to the underlings of the executive.

John Bates, the U.S. District Judge was hesitant to grant the White House a right to defy Congressional subpoenas, but he also questioned the legal team representing the House as to whether the courts had the authority to intervene in the matter. "Whether I rule for the executive branch or I rule for the legislative branch, I'm going to disrupt the balance," Bates said.

The committee's lawsuit is the first time in U.S. history that either chamber of Congress has sued the president to force compliance with a subpoena.

House counsel Irv B. Nathan argued that Bates should order Miers to testify and allow her to invoke executive privilege only on a question-by-question basis. He also urged the judge to force Bolten to provide a log of White House documents and to explain why each was being withheld.

"Congress needs the facts," Nathan argued, adding that the White House was "holding hostage the information" lawmakers require to fairly consider legislation and other measures in the wake of the U.S. attorney scandal.

Lawyers for the current occupant argue that if the White House is forced to comply with the law it will "fundamentally alter the separation of powers." The House found Miers and Bolten in contempt of Congress in February by a vote of 232 to 32 after they refused to turn over documents or testify about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in December 2006. The House judiciary committee has been investigating the controversial firings for a year and a half, and the controversy eventually brought down Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was eventually forced to resign in disgrace.

Mukasey won't enforce Contempt Citations

Here is your Friday News Dump™. And boy howdy, is it the sort of thing a failed administration would really try to release after the east coast network news broadcasts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Friday rejected referring the House's contempt citations against two of President Bush's top aides to a federal grand jury. Mukasey says they committed no crime.

Mukasey said White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers were right in refusing to provide Congress White House documents or testify about the firings of federal prosecutors.

"The department will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers," Mukasey wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The House voted two weeks ago to cite Bolten and Mukasey for contempt of Congress and seek a grand jury investigation. Most Republicans boycotted the vote.

Speaker Pelosi requested a grand jury investigation yesterday (Thursday) and gave Mukasey a week to reply. He wasted no time in responding, because he only had one crack at the news dump. Had he responded on Thursday of next week, it would have been THE STORY all day Friday and going into the weekend.

Pelosi is pissed, and apparently prepared to make good on her threat to file a federal civil suit if the attorney general dug in his heels and refused to act as the attorney the people of this country instead of the president.

Mukasey, taking a very Nixonian position, has maintained that Miers and Bolton were right to refuse to appear because Bush told them not to. And acting on the orders of the president means they committed no crime. Like I said - Nixonian, like when he said to David Frost "[W]hen the president does it that means that it is not illegal."

Folks, this is exactly why we need to ITMFA right now. Because if aWol is not impeached, he can pardon the whole lot of them, putting them out of reach of a future Justice Department. But a president under impeachment can't pardon a thanksgiving turkey.

UPDATE I - PALE RIDER

Say we're sitting here a year from now--and Attorney General John Edwards has just refused to investigate whether some Presidential aides to President Obama have to appear before Congress because some Republican Congressman thinks they might have something to say about why all of the deleted E-Mails suddenly appeared after a few very talented people were able to retrieve them from some tape backups that were found under Bradley Schlozman's cookie cabinet in his old office. How shrill do you think these hypocritical bastards are going to be? And how loud are we going to be laughing at them for being so shrill?