House Judiciary Committee Votes To Recommend Contempt Charges Against Miers, Bolten
The vote went down by (surprise, surprise!) party lines...
(T)he Judiciary Committee (held) a "Meeting to Consider: a Resolution and Report Recommending to the House of Representatives that Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten be Cited for Contempt of Congress." Yesterday the Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers prepared a 52-page memo "that for the first time alleges specific ways that several administration officials may have broken the law during the multiple firings of U.S. attorneys."
Here is Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA29) urging the committee to vote for contempt:
Download | play 
Download | play
It would be one thing if the Administration witnesses came before this body and said on a particularlized basis that ‘I can't answer this question' or ‘I can't submit this document' because of a claim of Executive Privilege backed up by a letter from the President. That would be one thing. It would be another thing if a witnesses came into this committee room and said ‘I refuse to answer any question, I refuse to provide any document' with a claim of Executive Privilege. But it is yet even another thing for the Administration to take this position that with respect to a former Administration official: ‘I won't even come into the Congress, I won't even show up. I have that much contempt for the institution of Congress, I won't even come.' The audacity of that takes your breath away.
fristtt !!
Words... words... words...
That's all the American people are getting, words, and Congress is about to go on vacation. So much for getting the job done first!
Nah... It's Frist with one T!
So I'm FRIST!
:P
"along party lines"
So Joe LIEberman voted with the repugs, right?
They ought to issue inherent contempt citations, and frog-march right to the lock-up, and let Mr Executive Authority chew on that one?
I'm only pissed, cause the FIRST Subpoena they should have sent was for the Turd Boy himself.
Let's see...Hit the Lottery, or see Karl Rove in Handcuffs and Leg-Irons?
Kind of a hard call which would make me happier?
Enough with this BULLSHIT !!!
IMPEACH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PNAAC Minister @ 4:
Well, Joe is in the Senate, but there is little doubt he would vote with his party...THE REPUBLIC PARTY!
I'd ONCE AGAIN like to remind anyone thinking of voting for a third party, (thanks Ralph) that the difference between getting a democrat and a Republic in there has consequences for DECADES!
Bush and Senior have SO PACKED the Judiciary, that all the way to the USSC, Bush is going to see friendly judges when this goes to court-and it will just be stalled till Bush leaves office.
Cause, if this was CLINTON doing this, it would be expedited and the rulings would come down..Well. any guess what Roberts and Alito would say if this were a CLinton fight?
Please God, take this process to its fullest extent!
So, it's now before the entire/whole(or hole) U.S. House of Representatives, which
will, maybe, take up the contempt issue sometime in Sept. after returning from their
vacation. WTF will they do???? Hold more hearings which will delay an outcome...
Does anyone know, what kind of vote(percentage wise) would be necessary in the
full House for the contempt issue to be acted upon????
The full House needs to vote on the Contempt charges before any recess.
Not impressed.
Words, words, words.
The Judicial Committee has inherent contempt power, and it's not using it to send a strong message.
If enough Democratic voters get pissed off, the Democratic candidates will lose in 2008 to another neo-con. The USA is slipping away.
We're a nation of men/women, not a nation of laws anymore.
When this comes to the floor, how many wussy democrats will vote against this. Let's start a pool. A buck a piece. I'm going with a bakers dozen, 13.
Of course the vote was by party lines. The Republicans are determined to try to cover for the current administration almost no matter what it does so that they don't get too badly hurt in the next election. Continued stone walling does hurt them somewhat, but much less so than if the administration was to gradually unravel and the full extent of the administration's incompetence and attacks on civil liberties were revealed.
I can almost hear the minority screaming it now - "It's another political stunt!!!"
Just Me @ 12:
That is a considerable risk and is one of the reasons I am concerned by the number of anti-Democrat posts on C&L. If enough opposition votes don't get cast or the anti-GOP vote gets split too much, the GOP won't even have to fix the election.
A simple majority is all that is needed to hold them in contempt. Aside from the contempt charge, Harriet Miers should be disbarred for not even showing up to court that day. She knowingly broke a law that is meant to protect the institution of justice itself because it forces the hand of people who choose to undermine the judicial process. To think Bush nominated her for the Supreme court just shows the type of disdain his administration has shown for the judicial system.
About time someone grew a pair.
Cheers.
The Dems are hoping to inherit the new executive dictatorship they have aided Bush in creating by placing a DLC dictator in the White House in '08 while maintaining a majority in congress. The political struggle is all about single party rule between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. The winner will be rewarded more handsomely than the looser for doing the bidding of their financial masters.
moonsha @ 17:
Man, be carefully about trashing Bush's 2nd wife like that?
Or, is Harriet his third wife, Condi being the second?
It 's hard to keep Bush's Harem straight these days.
WashStateBlue @ 20:
But why would you want to?
sulphurdunn @ 19:
If this were true, and I agree, both parties suck the teet of the corporate big-boys, the Dems are at an distinct advantage as Bush and his Daddy and Ronnie PACKED the judiciary full of right wing corporate cronies, and with Alito and Roberts, Bush is one step away from cementing a corporate friendly-anti worker-anti consumer USSC for the next 30 years?
So, the democrats really have a tougher road to drive IMHO to a dictatorship?
The scary thing is, Rove just needed less of an idiot in the WH, or he MIGHT have had 100 Years of Republic Party Rule?
As I said above, if I ever meet Ralph Nader, I'm kicking him in the nads for handing us Alito and Roberts....
Good luck with that.
The democratic presidential candidate who today refuses to denounce the GOP, and elucidate the mortal threat to our constitutional republic posed by Bush/Cheney and the republican party, is unfit to assume the office.
Anyone disagree?
conyers and that other guy weren't even listening
PNAAC Minister @ 21:
Why, do they revert to being gay?
Oh goody! Now when the DOJ ignores the contempt citation they can have more hearings about that. Blah, blah, blah!
Miers might want to have a bag packed with a pair of fuzzy slippers,
floral-print house dress (mu mu style), and a single pink hair curler.
Just in case....:)
" The audacity of that takes your breath away."
Ya THINK?.....
these repukeakins that didn't vote for the contempt charge don't even
believe in their own office.
These people were subpoenaed for Christ sake, and they thumbed
their nose at the House Judiciary Committee. Thats contempt. Period.
You can say it's theater, you can say they're innocent but they gotta show up or they ARE in contempt.
Holy Jesus Christ, What criminal dereliction of duty.
moonsha @ 17:
Well, at least, if you are correct, it does not take 2/3rd or 4/5th. Showing and admitting
my ignorance, just what is the current make up of the U.S. House of Representatives?
Best I can recall it's something like 222 to 213; but not sure. So, assuming only a
majority is required and further assuming that 12 Dems cross the aisle and at least 2
Repigs do likewise, that would be a vote of only 214(Dems For) and 221(Repigs Nay)
and NOTHING would happen. Someone help me with my math so I can be more accurate.
Thanks...
The final days of Rome comes to mind.
Well of course they have contempt for congress. Why on earth shouldn't they. What has congress done in the past 7 years to earn any respect from these thugs???? NOTHING!!!! The republican congress was nothing but weak lick spittle yes men who gave into every whim of the administration, and the democratic congress has been the same thing, except they whine about it.
To tell you the truth, I have contempt for congress and until they impeach these criminals, which is what the Constitution says they must do when they feel that the executives have committed high crimes and misdemeanors, (Mr. Feingold) I will continue to have contempt for them. I hate them more than I hate this administration, because THEY are allowing these criminals to continue to get away with their crimes.
If Pelosi tables the full vote in the House until after the recess, we're going to be treated to three weeks of the GOP going on every god-damned program and screaming about how this is all "political theater". Maybe Pelosi wasn't such a hot choice after all...
Yossarian @ 29:
They only believe in one thing, getting reelected?
Right now, they are caught in a dilemma, if they jump ship on Bush, their wingnut base will eat them alive..
But, come next year, about .00000001 % of the independent and cross over vote is going for anyone whose name says (R) after it.
These clowns deserve it, I hope about 100 of them get thrown out next year...
The Dems must be required to address Bush as "His Excellency" when away from the daily media charade we're fed.
As Rep. Schiff was speaking, Conyers was chuckling it up Sensenbrenner.
WTF.
starwheel @ 36:
It's all a game to these people. And we the people are the suckers.
I mean Hillary even said back 2000 "as long as people have their dorito's and beer everyones happy".
Whats that tell you?
I just googled the U.S. House of Reps and found that the head count is:
233 Dems
202 Repigs
So, if my math is correct, and assuming only a majority is needed, it would take
a minimum of 15 Dems to cross-over to the other side; resulting in a total vote
of 218 For Contempt and 217 Nay....IF/When vote is taken and should as many
as 15 or more Dems "fold their tents", they need to be singled out and defeated
This vote was a good first start, but the Democrats in Congress need to TAKE A STAND for the important principle of the separation of powers in the Constitution, and use all their power and their best tactics to see this fight through. If they simple make an initial principled stand and then give up, they will endanger the power of Congress for many years to come. I have to think that if Bill Clinton's White House had blown off Republican subpoenas and failed to show up, I would have been equally appalled. That didn't happen. Clinton administration officials repeatedly showed up for the most Mickey Mouse subpoenas, including the White House Christmas card list. If the Democrats don't fight this issue all the way, we know they will get nothing from the White House voluntarily. The Democrats need to be able to TAKE A STAND against the Rove machine, which will attack the Democrats and accuse them of being unpatriotic. The Democrats have nothing to lose. They need to TAKE A STAND and demonstrate to the American people why they are right and the Bush Administration is wrong.
Bob Roberts @ 16:
I will never vote for a Republican again, but at this point, the Democrats we put in office are not using the powers they possess. Harriet Miers doesn't deserve to be free until September; Gonzales should be in JAIL right this very minute for any number of crimes.
If the Democrats continue to exhibit weakness, I will not vote for them in 2008. Perhaps the best thing that could happen to our country is to let the neo-cons take it from us for good.
That's when we can either say good-bye to it, or take to the streets and get these God-damned millionaire/billionaire parasites out of our government (not all of them: Kucinich would deserve a place, as would a few others).
WashStateBlue @ 34:
The republicans are so entrenched in marching in lockstep that they cannot break free of it. It has worked for them for over 30 years. They decided right after Watergate that no republican should ever speak badly or disagree with another republican in public, and that is quadrupled when they are talking about the President. It is the thing that got them the majority in both houses, and the White House. It was a good plan, until they got stuck with a lunatic and his sock puppet. But their pattern is so engrained, so much a part of them, that even though they see the ship sinking, even though they say "the ship is sinking" they cannot break the habit of going along with Dick Cheney and George Bush. Everytime they think they might be able to, Bush and Cheney pull them back in, and they go along, against their better judgment and against their own best interests.
They are sinking to the bottom on the Titanic ship republican and they cannot break free of it to save themselves or the party. They have doomed themselves with their nazi like devotion to their party. Everytime they turn around these days they are having to back George Bush and Dick Cheney on what they know are politically suicidal "missions". Iraq, lying to congress, even health care for children.
They cannot QUIT George Bush and Dick Cheney. They KNOW that they do not want the executive branch to have the powers that Bush and Cheney have. They KNOW that they are laughing stocks and that they are giving up their own power for the White House. They KNOW that the American people have had enough. They KNOW all of this and more, and yet, like Pavlovian dogs, when Bush and Cheney ring that bell, they start drooling and doing what the masters tell them to do, to their end.
Specter voted against? really?
HEh @ 43:
No, this vote was in the HOUSE Judiciary Committee, not the Senate.
Talk is cheap.
Looks like no one was listening to him. The members were joking among themselves. Sad.
"The audacity of that takes your breath away..."
...sorry to bring some levity to this issue, but did anyone else immediately start hearing Top Gun when they read this sentence?
Take my breath awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay....
WashStateBlue @ 5:
More like, which are the better odds?
Condi pulled this bullshit during the 9/11 investigatons, & I was shocked when she wasn't immediately arrested. Imagine one of us standing up a sopeona,...
I wouldn't show up for those clowns who call themselves congress, either. There is no physical proof that they have any authority over anybody.
"The audacity of that takes your breath away": Yes, it is shocking to learn that alleged war criminals will not accept an invitation to a BBQ.
What do they want: Filet Minon?
Do these retarded congressmen know there's a camera videotaping them?!
When a member of their own party is speaking they should at least PRETEND to listen, sheesh!
.I agree with this man all the way. We have got to challenge Bush on this executive privilege issue that he continues to spew each time he is caught in a lie or is backed into a corner.
He does not even explain what privilege he is entitled to is, just that he is executing his so called rights to these made up privileges
This is bull crap and I thank the Congressman for calling him on this and I do hope it is clear to all of them that just because Bush says those words does not atomically grant him that right.
He needs to be called on to justify his rights to have these privileges period.
Excellent speech by Rep. Schiff.
Yawn. Nothing will happen. Maybe in a few months the full house will take up the indictments. Justice won't prosecute. The House will debate inherent contempt. Conyers will write a strongly worded letter. A few weeks later, the universe will go into heat death.
This is exactly why the white house mocks the dems.
They held a meeting to discuss a resolution to make a recommendation to do something.
C'mon, they could have at least thrown in a "probably," "maybe," or a "perhaps" into that somewhere.
Damn I want a real government.
Look at the overall number of comments posted on this thread. It seems fairly low for this kind of news. Trolls ripe with cynicism seem to be the new GOP tactic to hijack the blog. We know what you are up to.
Well, the committee made a "statement" -- as the Democrats have finally risen at least to the level of threatening to sort-of, metaphorically, but not really "scratch your eyes out" if the executive branch ignores congress. I guess we'll see if the full House has what it takes to endorse a statement that actually calls for actions in the real world to be put in place. There are certain to be plenty of representatives who still love our treasonous war criminals in the White House. Probably including some Democrats-in-name-only from the knuckle-dragger states. But time for August vacation now. Last wanker in the pool is a rotten egg!
I watched in amazement! Conyers having a good time and telling jokes/stories to the man seated next to him and i don't know who that was, while rep. Schiff was making what i thought were good points. Nobody listened!!!
Nothing will get done with this group - they're too busy making plans for vacations.
God help us.
[Please don't post in ALL CAPS. Thanks-Sitemonitor]
Comments are closed on this entry