Legal News

Pelosi, Branded Panderer to Loony Liberals, Asks DOJ to Probe Bush Aides

By Dan Slater

Here’s what went down on Capitol Hill yesterday

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked DOJ:
To open a grand jury investigation and pursue misdemeanor charges against Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, and Joshua Bolten, President Bush’s chief-of-staff for contempt of Congress. Miers refused to testify to Congress regarding the dismissals of federal prosecutors in 2006. As for Bolten, he failed to turn over White House documents related to the dismissals.

She gave him one week to respond and said refusal to take the matter to a grand jury would result in the House’s filing of a civil lawsuit against the Bush administration.

The White House Responded:

Speaker Pelosi’s request, coming two weeks after the House voted to hold Miers and Bolten in contempt, is “truly contemptible.”

The DOJ Responded:

That it had received Speaker Pelosi’s request, but noted a “longstanding department precedent” against letting a US attorney refer a Congressional contempt citation to a grand jury or prosecute an executive branch.

John Boehner, House Republican leader, Put in Two Cents:

“This sort of pandering to the left-wing fever swamps of loony liberal activists does nothing to make America safer.”

Click here for the AP story.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).