Conyers Rejects Immunity Argument From Miers Lawyer

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) rejected claims by a lawyer to former White House counsel Harriet Miers that his client was not legally bound to appear before the panel after President Bush invoked executive privilege to prevent her testimony.

"The subcommittee [on administrative and commercial law] overruled Ms. Miers' claims of immunity and privilege," Conyers said in a statement. "Her failure to comply with our subpoena is a serious affront to this committee and our constitutional system of checks and balances. We are carefully planning our next steps."

That next step could include a vote to hold Miers in contempt of Congress, but her lawyer quoted previous Justice Department rulings "that criminal contempt of Congress statute does not apply to executive officials who assert claims of executive privilege at the direction of the President."

Her lawyer, George Manning, also argued that the chairman's complaint resides with Bush, not his client.

"The Committee's dispute is not with Ms. Miers, but with the executive branch," Manning wrote in a letter released by the committee. "The subcommittee has demanded that Ms. Miers do precisely what the president has prohibited her from doing."