A Contemptible White House

The Nation: If The Administration Will Not Abide By Subpoenas, Congress Should Hold It In Contempt

(The Nation)  This column was written by John Nichols.

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No one was all that surprised when the Bush administration announced Thursday that it would not cooperate with congressional demands for documents and testimony by prominent former officials that would likely confirm this White House's reckless disregard for the rule of law.

What was surprising, and encouraging, was the decisiveness with which key players in Congress responded.

After the White House asserted executive privilege in rejecting subpoenas issued by the House and Senate Judiciary committees as part of the ongoing probe of abuses within the Department of Justice, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers wasted no time expressing his sense that a Contempt of Congress citation is in order.

"The President's response to our subpoena shows an appalling disregard for the right of the people to know what is going on in their government," explained Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who is the only Judiciary Committee member to have participated in the fight between Congress and the Nixon White House for Watergate-related documents. "At this point, I see only one choice in moving forward, and that is to enforce the rule of law set forth in these subpoenas."

The best way to enforce the rule of law is by issuing a Contempt of Congress citation. The rules of Congress permit standing committees, such as the House and Senate Judiciary panels, to compel witnesses to produce documents and testimony required to complete inquiries. Committee chairs are permitted to issue subpoenas seeking documents and testimony. And when the targets of those subpoenas refuse to cooperate, a Contempt of Congress citation — outlining a criminal offense against the legislative branch of the federal government — can be drawn up.

The issuance of a Contempt of Congress citation would provoke the sort of Constitutional showdown that it now appears will be required if this administration is to be held to account for its abuses of power. In such a showdown between the legislative and executive branches, the third branch of the federal government, the judiciary, would be asked to decide whether the White House has a right to assert executive privilege, as White House counsel Fred Fielding did in a letter telling the committee chairs that their demands would not be met.

The "fear of being commanded to Capitol Hill to testify or having their documents produced to Congress" would prevent presidential advisers from communicating "openly and honestly" with the president," wrote Fielding.

Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy suggests there is another sort of fear in play: the fear of having improper and potentially illegal schemes exposed.

Fielding's assertion of executive privilege came in response to subpoenas for documents and testimony relating to the firing of nine federal prosecutors in 2006. Leahy and members of his committee have explored the question of whether those U.S. Attorneys were dismissed for improper political reasons as part of a broad move by the White House to politicize federal investigations and prosecutions.

"This White House cannot have it both ways," says Leahy. "They cannot stonewall Congressional investigations by refusing to provide documents and witnesses, while claiming nothing improper occurred."

The Vermont Democrat described assertion of executive privilege in an investigation of official misconduct as a "further shift by the Bush administration into Nixonian stonewalling."

"Increasingly," says Leahy, "the president and vice president feel they are above the law — in America no one is above law."

The senator is right, at least in theory.

But, in practice, this administration has operated above, or more precisely outside the law for more than six years. Without proper congressional and judicial oversight, the White House has expanded the reach and authority of the executive branch far beyond the limits imagined by the founders. And it will continue to do so until Congress reasserts itself as a coequal branch of government.

That process begins with the issuance of Contempt of Congress citations.

For the sake of the Republic, those citations cannot be dispatched quickly enough.

[sjc_1]

I don't understand why impeachment is not discussed by the congress. It's not like it isn't warranted.
Posted by Mimi611 at 10:40 AM : Jun 30, 2007

It is not talked about because they can not get the votes. If you want them to impeach them, then you should have voted for more Democrats. If they control 60% of the votes they can bring it to the floor for a vote and then the Congress reps will have to go on the record.

[sjc_1]

Hanging is too good for Bush and Cheney. They will have to come up with some of the methods that they used against the prisoners that they tortured to death in those secret foreign detention centers in Eastern Europe.

[jn122736]

If the congress is really serious, when are they going to start of process of impeaching proxy president Chenney and president ( ? ) George W. Bush?
Posted by roach9703 at 07:15 PM : Jun 29, 2007
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The senate is the ones conducting this investigation but they are not the ones with the power of impeachment.

The House of Representatives has sole power of impeachment (bringing charges) but they are waiting on the Senate instead of doing something themselves.
It smells; just like when Pelosi removed any chance of impeachment at the start of this congress.

If and when the Senate issues contempt of congress charges the case will go before the SAME Supreme Court that appointed Bush as president, in the 2000 election, in the first place.

This Supreme Court has since become even more right leaning by the addition of two new justices, including a new CHIEF justice. There can be no doubt they will rule on the side of this administration.

I am not a lawyer but it seems to me that the House of Representatives, having the power AND THE VOTES, could impeach Bush based on contempt of congress charges among the many other obvious violations this administration has committed.

Whether or not the senate would uphold the impeachment (convict) should have no bearing on the decision to impeach, and the Supreme Court would be bypassed in the case. The chief justice would preside over the trial but would not decide guilt or innocence.

[mimi611]

I don't understand why impeachment is not discussed by the congress. It's not like it isn't warranted.

[bluestardad]

WE DONT NEED A BUNCH OF ISRAELI PASSPORT HOLDING PRO-ISRAELI NEOCONS TELLING REAL AMERICANS WHAT THEY SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT DO! IT IS BAD ENOUGH THEY HAVE BOUGHT OUR POLITICIANS!

YOU WILL SEE MORE AND MORE ISRAELI SUPPORTS SPEWING THEIR STAY THE COURSE BUSHIT ON THE NEWS AND IN WASHINGTON AS THE SUPPORT FOR THEIR POLICIES HAVE FALTERED IN AMERICA!

AMERICANS ARE WAKING UP!

TELL OUR POLITICIANS AND THE MEDIA NO MORE MONEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST THEY HAVE NOTHING WE NEED
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/


ISRAELIS HIDE BEHIND PROBLEMS THEY HAD IN EUROPE 70 YEARS AGO! AS SOON AS YOU QUESTION THE POLICY OF THESE SLUGS THEY SAY A PERSON IS ANTI SEMITIC! I AM AMERICAN NOT ISRAELI AND OUR TROOPS ARENT EITHER!

"Gen. William Odom discusses the %u201Cworst strategic disaster in American history,%u201D the war in Iraq: the view of most generals that the war is wrong, the failure of the politicians to see the consequences of their actions, the centrality of the neoconservatives and the Israel lobby in pushing for the Iraq invasion, the %u201Csurge,%u201D

www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/

05/10/gen-william-odom


READ AIPAC BRAG ABOUT THEIR INFLUENCE
ON AMERICAN POLITICIANS!

http://www.aipac.org/for

ms/join_aipacClubs.htm


IT IS NOT ALL THE REPUBLICANS FAULT EITHER AS CARL LEVIN, STENY HOYER AND JOE LIEBERMAN ARE SOME OF THE OTHERS WHO ARE BOUGHT BY AIPAC!

[jn122736]

Hey, you christians that put this tyrant in power, this is for you. Not only has the two party system run it's course, so have you! I am a Christian, even though I don't belong to a phoney church anymore. I finally discerned the difference between the heart of a lamb and the brain of a sheep. And after much study of the life and works of Jesus, I don't think that if he were here now, that he would own a gun or vote republican. Ahh, ignorance is bliss....
Posted by taylpatr at 03:22 PM : Jun 29, 2007
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. taylpatr,

If Jesus were here, He wouldn%u2019t need a gun, and would only be concerned about what I do, not about any gun I might own.

[freckster]

Impeach, impeach, impeach. If enough people voice this disgust and disdain for this president directly to their representatives the votes will be there. Don't just vent here - email your representatives, too. And do it with regularity. They will respond to pressure but the pressure has to build.

"Do or do not. There is no try" - Yoda

[sjc_1]

Impeachment was off the table, because they did not have the votes. The goose stepping Repugs would never face reality. Why waste the time on futile efforts when there are so many more important things to do.

As for bring charges of crimes to the Gitmo guys. Crimes committed in what country to what set of laws? If they are Afghanistan laws, they need to have a trial in that country. If they are our laws, they would have to been committed here.

[formrusmcsgt]

Nancy Pelosi should have been arrested and jailed for proclaiming Impeachment would be off the table, without even beginning an investigation into ADMITTED crimes by Bushco.
Posted by veteran71 at 07:34 PM : Jun 29, 2007

Why should Pelosi be sent to jail because the Dems don't have a 2/3 majority in the Senate?

[ubrew12]

clemenhagen1 said: "If you want [Gitmo terrorists] to rot in prison, you have my blessing. Just convict them of a crime! Given the fact the Bush administration does not create military tribunals to do so, one must assume they have not a single shred of evidence on these guys. They used "extraordinary rendition" or had the corrupt Pakistani intelligence agency sell them a few Arabs, and they have about as much proof as they do WMD's. "

Excellent post, like many on this board. CONVICT THEM OR CONVINCE US THIS IS LEGIT!!!

[pepperp1]

Elston is the sixth Justice official to leave after being linked to the dismissals of the prosecutors.
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Leahy and Conyers are doing an excellent job routing out the corruption and forcing resignations within the Justice Department, but this went on for to long and the very folks in Justice that Congress would call upon in the next steps are officials of questionable credentials other than as Republican political operatives. If the architects of theses crimes are not punished and allowed to escape justice for what ever reason this country and the rule of law is weakened, public trust shattered, not a good thing in a democracy our own history tells us what happens when people believe they have been disenfranchised and that the governing entities are weak. I believe Speaker Pelosi needs to reconsider impeachment for Cheney; the Shrub is useless and can be indicted later for the wiretapping he ordered.

[clemenhagen1]

"Git mo detainees are the lowest of the low, they have no legitimate status as POWS because they are not soldiers they are terrorists."

JEGibbons: Breath pal. Your logic is so convoluted it's difficult to follow. First you argue we are at war, but then you claim the Git mo detainees do not constitute soldiers. So they're terrorists, right? And what is a terrorist? That's right, a criminal. And what do you do to criminals? That's right. Put them on trial and throw them into prison for the rest of their lives. If you want them to rot in prison, you have my blessing. Just convict them of a crime! Given the fact the Bush administration does not create military tribunals to do so, one must assume they have not a single shred of evidence on these guys. They used "extraordinary rendition" or had the corrupt Pakistani intelligence agency sell them a few Arabs, and they have about as much proof as they do WMD's.

[roach9703]

If the congress is really serious, when are they going to start of process of impeaching proxy president Chenney and president ( ? ) George W. Bush?

[dan9111]

Oh no! Their opinion is that his opinion of their opinion of his opinion CANNOT STAND! What stupidity. It's just a bunch of guys with guns. Why give their opinion, or Bush's, any credibility on our part?

This stuff makes no difference to the average American. It is just more bickering. Fire them, no more millions of handouts, and then tell them to get a job for money they must earn.

[jegibbons]

In the way of clarification for my previous post,
Just now we have a VERY STRONG EXECUTIVE BRANCH and a very weak Congress. History reflects this kind of defiance often happens when there is imbalance.
As poor as Bush's approval ratings are, at present, the Congress's is even lower.

[terrapin78]

The American citizenry have as much contempt for the Bu$h admin as the Bu$h admin has for the American citizenry.

It is time to put these criminals where they belong. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas!

[jegibbons]

Posts by clemenhagen1

Why so concerned about the rights of Terrorists?

These detainees are undeniably dangerous, i.e. the self-confessed killer of Daniel Pearl.

Internationalists make no allegiance to the US. They simply want US justice modeled on some fictionalized global level. Is that You?

NOW, if you believe we are at WAR, which many on the EXTREME LEFT DO NOT believe. (Is that You?) This is a very dangerous and cunning enemy who does not play by rules and will use OUR RULES of law against us. Only a *** fool would not make adjustments, thus Git mo.

I don't believe leftist ACLU propaganda which foists the lie on us that we are ONLY as honorable as the freedoms we will PROVIDE for our enemies???

This is WAR! The LEFT wishes it were otherwise, but that is a DENIAL OF reality and the facts.

We owe these GITMO detainees NOTHING. Prisoners of War are not traditionall released until the conflict is resolved, unless they give reasonable assurances that they will remain neutral. Git mo detainees are the lowest of the low, they have no legitimate status as POWS because they are not soldiers they are terrorists.

If an International Court which could and would try these devils with some degree of certainty, then perhaps the US could release them from custody. Unfortunately that is not the case. Still awaiting justice on the atrocities in Bosnia. Git mo is a reasonable if only a temporary solution.

Let them all ROT there as far as I'm concerned!

[ubikvalis2]

"Coming from a supporter of the president who increased the size of our federal government to twice it's previous size."

Yeah, but you see, if Kerry had been elected President it would be three times as big, it could be worse.

Or so I imagine the right wing logic goes.

[ioweign]

Presidental behavior??

Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen the former Massachusetts governor erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack.

Well - at least it wasn't Aunt Edna in her rocker!

[rafterman1]

===Leahy one of the biggest crooks on the hill acting high an mighty..LOL LOL CHURN665..Did you get so upset an question Clinton when he fired EVERYONE of the DA's ??? I doubt it..Normal winnie DNC ..do as we say not as we do.===

Still perpetuating the Clinton DA lie I see. Well, everyone knows the difference between the firings, so your attempted misdirections won't work any more. By the way:

Libby Federal Inmate ID Number: 28301-016

Which neocon will be next?