House Panel to Seek Contempt Against Miers, Bolten

[Ron Burgundy]

Bloomberg - July 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House Judiciary Committee will meet in two days to consider contempt of Congress citations against President George W. Bush's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, and former counsel Harriet Miers for refusing to cooperate with its investigation of the firing of federal prosecutors.

Michigan Democrat John Conyers, the committee chairman, will ask the panel to authorize citations for criminal contempt of Congress, said Melanie Roussell, a panel spokeswoman. The full House would also have to vote on the move.

``I've allowed the White House and Ms. Miers every opportunity to cooperate with this investigation,'' Conyers said in a statement. ``It is still my hope that they will reconsider this hard-line position and cooperate with our investigation.''

Miers refused to testify about her role in the decision to replace the prosecutors last year and Bolten declined to turn over White House documents. The committee vote would move the Democratic-controlled Congress a step closer to a confrontation with Bush over his refusal to provide documents or let aides testify.

House and Senate panels are investigating whether the prosecutors were fired for improper political motives, such as to spur voter-fraud investigations of groups allied with the Democratic Party.

Referral for Prosecution

Federal law provides for referral of criminal contempt citations to a U.S. attorney, ``whose duty it shall be'' to ``bring the matter'' before a federal grand jury. Contempt of Congress is a criminal misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said last week that the president would instruct the U.S. attorney in Washington not to bring such a case, arguing that he isn't required to prosecute presidential aides who assert executive privilege in such circumstances.

Today, Snow said the Justice Department has a ``tradition'' of not prosecuting such cases. ``It seems now that we have a fishing expedition that's woefully short on fish,'' Snow told reporters.

If the Bush administration refuses to prosecute Bush's aides for criminal contempt, the House could bring its own charges. Under such a scenario, the House would convene a trial and could imprison an official found in contempt of Congress until the end of a legislative session. A person jailed for contempt this year would be freed when Congress adjourns for the year in December.

Gonzales to Testify

Meanwhile, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is due to appear tomorrow before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer more questions about the prosecutor dismissals.

Gonzales, whose resignation or replacement has been sought by Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike, said in prepared testimony he intends to stay in office.

Allegations that political considerations were involved in hiring government lawyers and prosecutors ``have been troubling to hear,'' Gonzales said in the written testimony. ``Since I have never been one to quit, I decided that the best course of action was to remain here and fix the problems.''

One of his former top aides, Monica Goodling, told Congress she considered the political views of as many as 50 applicants for jobs as career federal prosecutors. The agency's inspector general is investigating whether the hiring decisions were influenced by politics.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070723/pl_bloomberg/aw6orbjinjck [link]