So Is Miss Harriet In Jail Yet

[rsmith6621]

if not.....why not and WHEN!!!!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Bureaucracy.

They voted for the contempt charge yesterday, split on party lines, and it's got to come up for a vote in front of the full House.

[onenote]

3. I don't think they did vote for the contempt charge yesterday

I could be wrong, but its my understanding that the vote that was taken yesterday was to sustain the ruling of the chair that Meiers invocation of executive privilege was not valid. However, I believe (and again could be wrong on this) that the subcommittee still has to hold a separate vote on a contept citation, which would then go to the full Committee and then to the full House.

[onenote]

2. No and never.

No she's not in jail. And she won't be. Why? Because she isn't going to be "arrested" and subjected to a trial by the House pursuant to the inherent contempt authority process that hasn't been used in over 70 years. She will, at most, be cited by contempt, first in a vote by the subcommittee, then by the full committee, and then by the House as a whole. Assuming it gets that far without some compromise, then the matter will be referred to the US Attorney's office for presentment to a grand jury. If indicted, and tried, and convicted, then she could end up in jail. But if you think it will get to that point, I have a bridge to sell you.

Why use the US Atty process and not the inherent contempt process? Well, if for no other reason, to avoid getting bogged down in having to explain why it is being used for the first time in 70 years when it wasn't used by either repubs or Democrats in numerous contempt disputes since then, including disputes involving Clinton's White House Counsel and his Attorney General, as well as various repub cabinet members and other officials.

[Double T]

4. Yeah right! Harriet has bushomatic immunity from ANY and ALL.........

wrong doing.

[Golden Raisin]

5. Yeah right.

She's in the cell right next to Scooter Libby. She'll go to jail when Gonzales is forced to resign for openly lying to Congessional committees and when Condi honors HER subpoenas. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. She has until the 17th, 5 p.m. to say whether she will comply with the subpoena.

Then I suspect she'll be arrested.:)

Miers Warned of Contempt Citation for Ignoring House Subpoena

By James Rowley

July 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House Judiciary Committee threatened former White House Counsel Harriet Miers with criminal contempt charges if she continues to defy its subpoena to testify about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan gave Miers until 5 p.m. Washington time on July 17 to say whether she will comply. Miers failed to appear yesterday to answer questions under oath before the panel's commercial-law subcommittee, which then voted 7-5 along party lines that her refusal to testify had no valid legal basis.

The contempt threat against Miers further escalates Congress's legal confrontation with President George W. Bush over his refusal to let aides testify under oath about private White House discussions. Congressional investigators are trying to determine whether federal prosecutors were replaced to spur investigations of Democrats or quash probes of Republicans.

``We must insist on compliance with the subpoena,'' Conyers said in a two-page letter to George T. Manning, an Atlanta lawyer representing Miers. Her refusal ``could subject her to contempt proceedings.''

Refusing to testify or produce documents to Congress can lead to prosecution for a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $1,000.<snip>

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aRrGFpjEvCwk&refer=home