Bush orders Miers not to testify

[partylessinOhio]

Bush orders Miers not to testify
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
13 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - President Bush ordered his former White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to defy a congressional subpoena and refuse to testify Thursday before a House panel investigating U.S. attorney firings.

"Ms. Miers has absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony as to matters occurring while she was a senior adviser to the president," White House Counsel Fred Fielding wrote in a letter to Miers' lawyer, George T. Manning.

Manning, in turn, notified committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., that Miers would not show up Thursday to answer questions about the White House role in the firings of eight federal prosecutors over the winter.

Conyers, who had previously said he would consider pursuing criminal contempt citations against anyone who defied his committee' subpoenas, revealed the letters after former White House political director Sara Taylor testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Taylor said she knew of no involvement by the president in the firings of the U.S. attorneys.

She irked senators by refusing to answer many questions from a panel investigating whether the firings were politically motivated. She said she was bound by Bush's position that White House conversations were protected by executive privilege.

Conyers said of Miers, Bush's former White House lawyer, "As a former public official and officer of the court, Ms. Miers should be especially aware of the need to respect legal process, and we expect her to appear before the committee tomorrow as scheduled."

Fielding said the Justice Department had advised the White House that Miers had absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony.

"The president has directed her not to appear at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, July 12, 2007," Fielding wrote.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070711/ap_on_go_co/fired_prosecutors;_ylt=Ai06U43TbMapAY6Ey4lb3MKs0NUE

[Ninga]

1. Na-na boo-boo to you congress. I am the pretzle-nut and I have chuckle nuts, and I am the boss.

[aquart]

2. "Not to appear"?

Dear me. Someone should show up to escort her. With guns, chains, and cuffs, preferably.

[atreides1]

3. This is something that dictators and tyrants do!!!!

So can we stop calling him "little boots" and start calling him by his real name "Hitler Wannbe"?

[Skink]

4. Wasn't she nominated for the supreme court?

IF so she should feel compelled to testify out of her loyalty to the constitution.

[gratuitous]

5. Yes, she was nominated for the Supreme Court

But it wasn't for her loyalty to the constitution.

[underpants]

6. How do you order someone to do something if they don't work for you anymore?

How the hell do you ORDER someone to do something even if they DO work for you? Are at your command??