White House Unloads On House Democrats Over Contempt Vote

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino has issued a lengthy statement, berating House Democrats for approving civil and criminal contempt proceedings against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriett Miers for failing to respond to Judiciary Committee subpoenas.

Perino's statement is too long to reprint, but I have pulled out some highlights. Remember, this whole dispute started last year when President Bush, citing executive privilege, refused to make Bolten and Miers to appear before the Judiciary Committee as it investigated the 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys. Now the issue will head to federal court, and it could resolve some longstanding questions about the extent of admissable executive privilege claims.

Here are some Perino quotes:

"Today, the United States House of Representatives did something that had never been done in the entire 150-year history of the contempt of Congress statute: it voted to hold in contempt two top White House officials who had been directed by the President not to comply with House Judiciary Committee subpoenas on the basis of the President’s assertion of Executive Privilege. The officials in question are the Chief of Staff to the President and the former Counsel to the President, two of the very closest advisers upon whom a President must rely. This action is unprecedented, and it is outrageous. It is also an incredible waste of time – time the House should spend doing the American people’s legislative business."
Continue reading post...