Miers Warned of Contempt Citation for Ignoring House Subpoena
    By James Rowley
    Bloomberg

    Friday 13 July 2007

    The U.S. House Judiciary Committee threatened former White House Counsel Harriet Miers with criminal contempt charges if she continues to defy its subpoena to testify about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

    Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan gave Miers until 5 p.m. Washington time on July 17 to say whether she will comply. Miers failed to appear yesterday to answer questions under oath before the panel's commercial-law subcommittee, which then voted 7-5 along party lines that her refusal to testify had no valid legal basis.

    The contempt threat against Miers further escalates Congress's legal confrontation with President George W. Bush over his refusal to let aides testify under oath about private White House discussions. Congressional investigators are trying to determine whether federal prosecutors were replaced to spur investigations of Democrats or quash probes of Republicans.

    "We must insist on compliance with the subpoena," Conyers said in a two-page letter to George T. Manning, an Atlanta lawyer representing Miers. Her refusal "could subject her to contempt proceedings."

    Refusing to testify or produce documents to Congress can lead to prosecution for a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $1,000.

    The Judiciary Committee and the full House of Representatives would have to vote to refer the case to the U.S. attorney in Washington, a Bush appointee, for prosecution.

    Republican Subpoena

    The panel today also subpoenaed the Republican National Committee to produce e-mails written by White House staff members about the firings. Bush has asserted executive privilege over any documents produced by his advisers, including those in the possession of the Republican committee.

    Congressional investigators previously subpoenaed the White House for documents.

    Congress has only issued subpoenas for two members of Bush's staff at the time of the firings, Miers and Sara M. Taylor, who resigned earlier this year as White House political director. Taylor, 32, testified two days ago before the Senate Judiciary Committee, answering some questions and refusing to answer others.

    The chairman of the Senate panel, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, said afterward that he wanted to study the transcript of Taylor's testimony before determining whether to seek contempt charges against her.

    Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the panel's top Republican, said he would oppose a contempt citation against Taylor. Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse told reporters he didn't sense "much appetite" among his colleagues to hold Taylor in contempt.