White House cannot delay aides' testimony: judge

[laststeamtrain]

Source: Reuters

White House cannot delay aides' testimony: judge

Tue Aug 26, 4:58 PM ET

A U.S. judge ruled against the Bush administration in its fight with Congress over a probe into the firings of U.S. attorneys by refusing on Tuesday to delay an order that current and former White House aides comply with congressional subpoenas.

Federal judge John Bates ruled that he would not put off his July order that former White House counsel Harriet Miers testify to Congress, and that Chief of Staff Josh Bolten surrender documents related to the 2006 firings.

He said on Tuesday that the administration had failed to make its case that the order should be delayed while the administration appeals it.

Bates said the White House should now turn over requested documents and urged negotiations with Congress over Miers' testimony, in what has become one of the fiercest battles in the Bush administration's effort to strengthen presidential and executive-branch powers.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080826/pl_nm/usa_congress_bush_dc

[JDPriestly]

1. The Bush administration has stepped on the wrong toes. Ouch!

Has Bush complied with the Supreme Court decisions on Guantanamo and habeas corpus yet? Or is the administration just kind of holding court on its own without regard for any other branch of government. Does the judiciary branch still exist in GWB's opinion?

[sharesunited]

2. They are planning to appeal those Supreme Court decisions.

[Hand]

3. Hoist by their own petard, BTW...

"Judge Bates was appointed United States District Judge in December 2001." Yep, he's Chimpy's appointee! :rofl: :evilgrin:

[MannyGoldstein]

11. Bush: Judiciary Has No Authority

Bush actually argued, to SCOTUS, that the judiciary has no authority over the President whenever the President thinks it's wartime. Oddly, SCOTUS shut that down 6-1 (Clarence Thomas is insane). But if Bush believes SCOTUS has no authority, then he can simply ignore the decision.

Woo-hoo!

[Supersedeas]

13. apparently when in comes to Repigs, Mukasey feels the same way

[mtf80123]

4. God I hope these criminals get their assess dragged in

front of the Congress before the Election!!!!

[lonestarnot]

5. Looks like the better not fuck around turning shit over now; they are under the Court's jurisdiction

Tee hee! And with that comes enforcement power! :applause:

[maddezmom]

6. K&R

[jimshoes]

7. There is that quote by the inimitable Frank Zappa

Where they are almost to the point of removing all the scenery and revealing the brick wall at the back of the theater. The quote is below.


"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, pull back the curtains, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater".
-- Frank Zappa

[mzmolly]

8. Hats off to the good Judge!

*ehem* ;)

[MissWaverly]

9. enough, just show up, no negotiations

go to my archived journal and read what Waxman said about the Clinton investigation, I have included a snip here.

Many of these documents were highly sensitive. The information Congress demanded and received included details of discussions between President Clinton and his closest advisors, internal e-mails from the Office of the Vice President, FBI interview notes, and documents describing internal Administration deliberations.

At one point, I asked GAO to assess how much White House time was involved in responding to congressional inquiries relating to allegations of campaign finance abuses over an 18-month period between 1996 and 1998.

GAO found that White House staff spent over 55,000 hours responding to hundreds of congressional requests. Government Reform and its Senate counterpart were the most visible investigative committees during this period.

[pleah]

10. K&R

[laststeamtrain]

12. "If the government is trying to run out the clock on the 110th Congress..Judge Bates won't let them"

<snip>

"If the government is trying to run out the clock on the 110th Congress, today's decision suggests that Judge Bates won't let them," said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at American University.

Rep. John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich., chair of the House Judiciary Committee, praised the decision and pledged to schedule a hearing for Miers shortly.

"I am heartened that Judge Bates recognized that the public interest in this matter is best served by the furtherance of the Committee's investigation," he said in a statement.

<more>

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5661658&page=1