White House Says Hill Can't Pursue Contempt Cases
My hopes were getting up with where Congress was going with the ignored subpoena of Harrient Miers. The pace seemed glacial, but it looked like a trap was being laid out carefully, with solid documented proof that the White House does not have a leg to stand on with all of its arrogant invocations of executive privilege. They were going to nail her and others for contempt. It was obvious.
Stupid, stupid me.
"A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case."
The executive branch is now almost completely unchecked. This opinion will probably stand because if the matter goes to court, it probably go before the Supreme Court, and there, the question will already be decided.
This is causing severe depression. It's hard to be angry anymore, because once i let that emotion motivate me, I quickly become discouraged.
I sincerely doubt whether there will be a presidential election in 2008.
More here, but it's not cheering me up.
2 comments:
Why would you care? It sounds like you want a parliamentary system anyhow. There will be a different president by 2009. I would like to see the presidency remain a strong executive position, regardless of the party in power.
Fight Over Documents May Favor Bush, Experts Say
Contempt Charge Precedents Cited in Firings Case
By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 21, 2007; Page A03
The Bush administration's vow this week to block contempt charges from Congress could prove to be a successful strategy for protecting White House documents about the multiple firings of U.S. attorneys, Democratic legal scholars and legislative aides said yesterday.
The experts cautioned that complaints by Democratic lawmakers about the administration's legal stance are undercut by a Justice Department legal opinion issued during the Clinton administration. It contended, as the Bush administration did this week, that Congress has no power to force a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases in which a president has invoked executive privilege to withhold documents or testimony.
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