Lawyers Compare Bush to Nixon in Executive Privilege Case
Updated: President Bush’s use of executive privilege to prevent two top aides from testifying before Congress last year about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys is the most sweeping since President Nixon’s during the Watergate era, lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee said today in a federal court filing.
The filing by the Democrat-led committee was made in a ongoing contempt case that tests the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government, reports the Associated Press in a breaking news story that provides few details. (A subsequent Associated Press story provides more.)
The House Judiciary Committee is seeking in the case to force Josh Bolten, the president’s chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, his former White House counsel, to testify about whether the White House ordered for political reasons that nine U.S. attorneys be dismissed.
“The administration says Bush was not personally involved in the U.S. attorneys’ dismissals,” the AP article states, and lawyers for the president contend that executive privilege protects his top aides from being called to testify.
An earlier ABAJournal.com post discusses additional details about the case and provides a link to the lawsuit (PDF) filed by the judiciary committee on March 10.
Additional coverage:
The Crypt’s Blog (Politico): “House Dems compare Bush to Nixon in seeking contempt ruling”
Updated at 7:45 p.m. to link to additional coverage.
