House Files Suit Against Administration to Enforce Subpoenas

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

"The House is taking action today to uphold the rule of law and to protect our Constitutional system of checks and balances. Congress, on behalf of the American people, is clearly entitled to the information that is being sought -- it involves the politicization of the Justice Department and law enforcement, not national security information nor communications with the President. The President has no grounds to assert executive privilege.

"By filing this lawsuit, House Members recognize the need to defend Congress' subpoena power against the efforts of any Administration to hide information in order to prevent the exercise of Congress' oversight and lawmaking responsibilities. This action is completely non-partisan. Seventeen Republican Members of the House Judiciary Committee stated in their minority report that an alternative to the contempt citation issued by the House and rejected by the Attorney General is 'bringing an enforcement action under the federal question jurisdiction already conferred on the district courts.' Today's lawsuit follows that alternative.

"The House stands ready, as it has throughout this dispute with the Administration, to discuss terms under which necessary testimony and information can be provided consistent with the need to ensure accountability and veracity. The Bush Administration cannot conceal information and prevent Congress from carrying out its oversight and lawmaking responsibilities. This and future Congresses will not and must not abdicate our Constitutional right to conduct meaningful oversight of the Executive Branch."

From the Judiciary Committee:

(Washington, DC)- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives General Counsel filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of the House Judiciary Committee to enforce subpoenas issued by the committee seeking information on the U.S. Attorney firings. The defendants in the case are former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten who were cited by the House for contempt of Congress last month. Last week, the Justice Department refused to present the House-passed contempt citations to a grand jury, contrary to federal law. Based on the House resolution that also found Bolten and Miers in contempt, the Committee is now filing the civil lawsuit to enforce the subpoenas.

"We will not allow the Administration to steamroll Congress," Conyers said. "Under our system of checks and balances, Congress provides oversight of the Executive Branch to make sure that government power is not abused. The Administration's extreme claims to be immune from the oversight process are at odds with our constitutional principles on which this country was founded, and I am confident the federal courts will agree."

Miers and Bolten violated their obligations under Committee subpoenas by refusing to appear before the Committee or to provide subpoenaed documents. The lawsuit was filed this morning in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and will be served on Ms. Miers and Mr. Bolton. The Judiciary Committee, as plaintiff, is asking the Court to find the following:

(1) Ms. Miers is not "immune" from the obligation to appear before the Committee in response to a duly authorized, issued and served Committee subpoena;

(2) Ms. Miers and Mr. Bolten must produce privilege logs identifying all documents withheld on grounds of executive privilege;

(3) Executive privilege does not cover documents not involving the President or undertaken directly in preparation for advising the President or whose contents are widely-known, previously released or previously the subject of extensive, authorized testimony, and that Ms. Miers's and Mr. Bolten's claims of executive privilege are, in any event, overcome by the Committee's compelling need for the subpoenaed testimony and documents.

(4) that Ms. Miers is required to appear before the Committee to respond to questions put to her pertinent to the Investigation and to invoke executive privilege only if and when appropriate;

(5) that Ms. Miers and Mr. Bolten are required to provide, as required by the subpoenas, a detailed privilege log, identifying by author, recipient, date and subject matter those documents responsive to the subpoena that have been withheld on executive privilege grounds;

(6) that Ms. Miers and Mr. Bolten are required to produce all non-privileged documents responsive to the subpoenas.

"I do not take this step lightly," Conyers said. "It is extremely rare that Congress must litigate in order to enforce subpoenas and no compromise can be reached. Unfortunately, this Administration simply will not negotiate towards a compromise resolution so we must proceed. I look forward to a quick and favorable ruling by the Court, so that we can complete our investigation."

The civil lawsuit is the latest step in the year-long investigation into the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys and related matters. Nearly one dozen Justice Department officials have resigned since evidence in the investigation became public, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Documents turned over by the Department indicate that the White House played a substantial role in the development and execution of the plan to force U.S. Attorneys to resign.

Miers and Bolten Contempt Report and Related Documents from the Judiciary Committee website >>

See the Gavel archives on the US Attorney scandal or contempt.