House Cites 2 Bush Aides for Contempt

[ZombieHorde]

By JOHN HOLUSHA

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to cite Joshua B. Bolten, the White House chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers, a former White House counsel, for contempt for refusing to testify about their participation in the firing of federal prosecutors.

The measure calls for House officials to seek enforcement of the contempt citation by the courts if, as expected, the Justice Department declines to act on the resolution.

The vote was a lopsided 223 to 32 in favor of the contempt citation, after most Republican members walked out to protest what their leaders called a political move. Instead, they said, the House should be voting on the extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act approved by the Senate earlier this week.

The resolution would seek to compel testimony from Ms. Miers, who was the White House counsel when several United States attorneys were replaced; Democrats contend that the prosecutors were replaced for political reasons.

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Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/washington/14cnd-contempt.html?hp