Bush Won't Release Miers' Records

President Bush said Monday that he will not release any White House legal documents written by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

In response to a reporter's question at the end of a cabinet meeting, Mr. Bush said he will not destroy the process of getting candid advice from top aides by disclosing those documents to the Senate. He said that will make it impossible for him and future presidents to make sound decisions, CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller reports.

"That would breech very important confidentiality, and it's a red line I'm not willing to cross," Mr. Bush said.

Both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding more documents on Miers, including from her work as Mr. Bush's counsel.

"People can learn about Harriet Miers through hearings, but we are not going to destroy this business about people being able to walk into the Oval Office to say, Mr. President, this is my advice," Mr. Bush said.

The president did not provide a direct answer when asked by a reporter whether the White House was working on contingency plans to withdraw Miers' nomination in the face of opposition to her from liberals and conservatives. Instead, he said that she is an "extraordinary woman" and that he understands people want to learn more about her.

"Recently, requests, however, have been made by Democrats and Republicans about paperwork out of this White House that would make it impossible for me and other presidents to be able to make sound decisions," Mr. Bush said. "In other words, they've asked for paperwork about the decision- making process, what her recommendations were. And that would breach very important confidentially."

Earlier, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Mr. Bush is committed to sticking with Miers until the Senate vote.

"He's confident that she will be confirmed because as senators come to know her like the president knows her, we're confident that they will recognize she will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice," McClellan said.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on her nomination said Sunday that she doesn't have the votes to be confirmed. Republicans countered that Schumer cannot predict how the GOP-controlled Senate will decide Miers' fate.

Many Republicans have yet to commit to approve Mr. Bush's second nominee to the high court, and some outside conservatives have started organized efforts to force the White House to withdraw her name.

Conservative groups like the Third Branch Conference, Eagle Forum, and Center for Military Readiness are now organizing efforts to force Miers' withdrawal, including starting a Web site: http://www.withdrawmiers.org/.

"If President Bush continues with this nomination, he's in serious danger of permanent losing the support of the majority of the conservative movement," said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail fund-raising guru who runs American Target Advertising.

Miers' confirmation hearings begin Nov. 7. Schumer said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," that lawmakers of both parties are concerned about Miers' independence and judicial philosophy.

"I think, if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor," he said. "I think there is maybe one or two on the Judiciary Committee who have said they'd support her as of right now."

Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., rejected the notion that Miers' nomination was shaky. He said most senators are waiting for the hearings before making up their minds. "There are no votes one way or another," he said on

Another committee Republican, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, told "Fox News Sunday" that he has not seen "anything coming from the White House that says that they're going to pull this nomination."

Brownback, who has been skeptical of Miers and has not announced how he will vote, added, "They're doing everything they can to prepare Harriet Miers for the hearings right now."

Miers, a longtime Bush confidante who has never been a judge, was nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The choice has troubled some conservatives who say it was risky because Miers was a blank slate on issues such as abortion and gay rights.

Democrats, too, have expressed concerns about whether Miers could sever her close ties to the president and rule independently once on the bench.