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WASHINGTON — Karl Rove and Harriet E. Miers, top former aides to President George W. Bush, will testify under oath to a House committee investigating the firings of nine United States attorneys in 2007, under an agreement announced Wednesday by the panel. The agreement settled a rancorous dispute that began in mid-2007 when the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Mr. Rove and Ms. Miers, who, according to e-mail messages released by the Justice Department, played a role in the firings.

Former top Bush aides Karl Rove and Harriet Miers agreed Wednesday to testify before Congress under oath about the firings of U.S. attorneys, a controversy involving allegations of political interference that grew into a constitutional standoff between two branches of government. The Bush White House had fought attempts to force Rove and Miers to testify, and the agreement — steered by aides to President Barack Obama — ended that dispute. Both the White House and lawmakers, especially now that Democrat Obama has replaced Republican George W. Bush — were leery of having a judge settle the question about the limits...

Top aides to U.S. President George Bush can be subpoenaed to testify before a congressional committee, a federal court in Washington ruled Thursday. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected White House arguments that former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff Josh Bolten have absolute immunity from testifying before Congress. The House Judiciary Committee filed suit after the two, citing executive privilege, refused to testify in the committee's investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006. Regarding Miers's claim of absolute immunity, the court wrote, "The (executive branch's) current claim of absolute...

President Bush doesn't hesitate to kick Congress around, but Congress just can't bring itself to kick back. During oral arguments yesterday about whether a federal judge should enforce congressional subpoenas against a belligerent White House, representatives of the judicial and executive branches both noted that Congress hasn't exercised its full constitutional powers. As Del Quentin Weber writes in The Washington Post, District Court Judge John D. Bates suggested that "the House could take other actions to compel the testimony. For example, the judge said, the House could order [White House Counsel Harriet] Miers's arrest and detention in a cell in...

The House Judiciary Committee Monday went to court to enforce its contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, arguing that the Bush administration has no right to block them from testifying about the firing of U.S. attorneys. Lawyers for the committee said they hope to have the matter resolved by the fall, but there’s no guarantee that will happen, and the court’s decision can be appealed. If it is not resolved before President Bush leaves office, the issue will likely be politically moot. But lawyers for the panel stressed that...

The House Judiciary Committee filed suit Monday to force former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten to provide information about the firing of U.S. attorneys. The lawsuit filed in federal court says Miers is not immune from the obligation to testify and that she and Bolten must identify all documents that are being withheld from Congress. In a statement announcing the lawsuit, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said, "We will not allow the administration to steamroll Congress." Conyers said he is confident the federal courts will agree that the Bush administration's claims...

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Friday rejected referring the House's contempt citations against two of President Bush's top aides to a federal grand jury. Mukasey says they committed no crime. Mukasey said White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers were right in refusing to provide Congress White House documents or testify about the firings of federal prosecutors. "The department will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers," Mukasey wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The House voted two weeks ago...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked for a grand jury investigation into whether White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. Pelosi is demanding that misdemeanor charges be pursued against Miers for refusing to testify to Congress about the 2006 firings of federal prosecutors, and against Bolten for failing to turn over White House documents related to the purge.

House Democrats Target Bolten, MiersBy Dan Eggen and Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, January 14, 2008; Page A03 Democratic leaders are preparing to launch the second session of the 110th Congress this week with a partisan shot, hints of conciliation and some serious procrastination. In its first couple of weeks after it returns tomorrow, the House is likely to take up contempt-of-Congress resolutions against White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers for their refusal to appear before Congress for questioning about the 2006 removal of nine U.S. attorneys, Democratic...

Everyone is missing this... Why is Huckabee gaining ground? Answer--Harriet Miers. The nomination of Miers confirmed a sneaking suspicion held by many Christians and social conservatives that many Republican politicians aren't really concerned about pro-life issues or about opposing the homosexual "rights" lobby. This wing of the party suspects that many GOP candidates only pay lip-service to these concerns to get social-conservative votes. The fear is this: when push comes to shove, politicians will distance themselves from these views and throw those who voted for them under the bus. In this regard, the Harriet Miers fiasco was a HUGE blunder....

The House Judiciary Committee, in a straight party-line vote, approved a contempt resolution against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, setting up a constitutional battle between the Bush administration and Congress over executive privilege. After several hours of skirmishing over whether to send a contempt resolution to the House floor, the committee voted by a 22-17 margin to approve the measure. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders will now have to decide if and when to hold a vote by the full House on the resolution. A vote could take...

WASHINGTON - House Democrats proposed a contempt citation Wednesday against two White House aides who have refused to comply with subpoenas on the firings of federal prosecutors.Democrats argued that Congress has nothing to lose by forcing a constitutional showdown with the Bush administration over the protracted controversy that has engulfed the Justice Department and jeopardized Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' job. "If we countenance a process where our subpoenas can be readily ignored, where a witness under a duly authorized subpoena doesn't even have to bother to show up, where privilege can be asserted on the thinnest basis and in the...

WASHINGTON — A House panel cleared the way Thursday for contempt proceedings against former White House counsel Harriet Miers after she obeyed President Bush and skipped a hearing on the firings of federal prosecutors. Addressing the empty chair where Miers had been subpoenaed to testify, Rep. Linda Sanchez ruled out of order Bush's executive privilege claim that his former advisers are immune from being summoned before Congress. The House Judiciary subcommittee that Sanchez chairs voted 7-5 to sustain her ruling. The next step would be for the full Judiciary Committee to issue a finding that Miers, Bush's longtime friend and...

President Bush ordered his former White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to defy a congressional subpoena and refuse to testify Thursday before a House panel investigating U.S. attorney firings. "Ms. Miers has absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony as to matters occurring while she was a senior adviser to the president," White House Counsel Fred Fielding wrote in a letter to Miers' lawyer, George T. Manning. Manning, in turn, notified committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., that Miers would not show up Thursday to answer questions about the White House role in the firings of eight federal prosecutors over the winter. Conyers,...

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, ignored White House Counsel Harriet Miers and senior lawyers in the Justice Department when he told the committee last month of specific reasons why the administration fired seven U.S. attorneys -- and appeared to acknowledge for the first time that politics was behind one dismissal. McNulty's testimony directly conflicted with the approach Miers advised, according to an unreleased internal White House e-mail described to ABC News. According to that e-mail, sources said, Miers said the administration should take the firm position that it would not comment on personnel issues. Until McNulty's testimony, administration officials had...

MSNBC reporting the above. Senate Schumer responds, and says "he isn't happy" with the proposal.

Conservatives and liberals alike battered White House counsel Harriet Miers during her 24-day rise and fall as a Supreme Court nominee. Critics questioned her experience, her judicial beliefs and her grasp of constitutional law. Now, preparing to leave the White House more than a year after the ordeal, Miers says she doesn't regret the experience. After being nominated, she heard from childhood friends. Strangers came up to her to say they were happy for her. ''Through the course of the nomination there were some ugly -- I thought unjustified -- comments,'' Miers said in an interview in her West Wing...

Breaking per Drudge. (Also just mentioned on Rush.)

White House Counsel Harriet Miers, the Supreme Court nominee who withdrew after a conservative revolt last fall, has allegedly vetoed several recommendations offered by conservatives to fill vacancies on federal courts. The White House would not directly respond to the charge, which was made this morning during a conference call with more than 40 conservative leaders. Two people on the call—whose identities I promised to keep confidential—said they had inside knowledge of the recommended nominees whom Miers nixed.

by Mark Finkelstein April 21, 2006 Advice to any Republican loyalists planning to watch a replay of this evening's Hardball: hide the sharp objects, put the firearms under lock and key, flush any potentially poisonous potions. With beautiful-but-deadly Norah O'Donnell sitting in for Chris Matthews, this might have been the most unrelenting gloom-a-thon since Watergate. Riffing off the latest polls showing W at 33%, it was one guest after another - from Bob Shrum to Kate O'Beirne to a panel of "hotshots" - painting a decidedly unrosy scenario. And just when things couldn't get any more dread, a former Clinton...

Joshua B. Bolten, the new White House chief of staff, has raised the possibility of moving Harriet E. Miers from her job as President Bush's counsel as part of a continuing shake-up of the West Wing, an influential Republican with close ties to Mr. Bolten said Thursday. The Republican, who was granted anonymity to talk openly about sensitive internal White House deliberations, said that Mr. Bolten had floated the idea among confidants, but that it was unclear whether he would follow through or if the move would be acceptable to Mr. Bush, who has a longtime personal bond with Ms....

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WITH SAMUEL ALITO ABOUT to be confirmed, it's time to take stock of this particular episode in the making of a justice, the nation's 110th. Bear in mind that Alito was not President Bush's first choice to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor. The estimable John Roberts was, but when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, Bush decided to redesignate Roberts for the center seat. That meant finding another nominee for O'Connor's seat.As it happened, Bush surprised the world by naming White House Counsel Harriet Miers. The Miers nomination proved a major blunder. Bush had opted for a person he knew well who...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A small, twin-engine plane carrying White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card made an emergency landing in Nashville Saturday after smoke began pouring into the cockpit, officials said. Card and 12 others on board were not injured when the Gulfstream 4 plane bound for Washington landed at the Nashville International Airport around 4 p.m., said Lynne Lowrance, an airport spokeswoman. "They thought they could be having some trouble with the Avionics instruments but they weren't sure what was causing the smoke," Lowrance said. The plane left Texas, where Card has been meeting with President Bush...

WASHINGTON -- At a time when he is under criminal investigation in the CIA leak case, Karl Rove stepped into the limelight Thursday night, praising failed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers to an influential group of conservative lawyers. "If you like every one of the 200 judges that we have sent forth to the U.S. Congress to be approved in the last three years, there hasn't been one of them who hasn't been researched, vetted, studied, analyzed or recommended by my friend Harriet Miers," the deputy White House chief of staff said in remarks to the Federalist Society. Rove did...

WITHIN minutes of her nomination to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, White House Counsel Harriet Miers was the subject of a blogs warm of disappointed conservatives who immediately launched an effort to force her to withdrawal her own nomination. NationalReview.com's group blogs "The Corner" and "Bench Memos," the blog ConfirmThem.com and the posters at FreeRepublic.com kept up a steady stream of criticism, much of it serious and thoughtful, some of it thuggish and false.

For conservatives, it was a teaching moment, and a kind of vindication. Two months ago, millions of Americans watched as Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, billed as a conservative Republican, sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee, smoothly and confidently responding to the grilling of Democratic senators who had hoped to trip him up and expose him as an "outside the mainstream" danger to American jurisprudence. Roberts was smart, good-humored and sensible. The Democrats, very often, were not -- think of Joe Biden's outburst accusing Roberts of providing "misleading" answers. Roberts kept his cool, showing the public a conservative who not...

"The conservative screamers who shot down [Harriet] Miers can argue that they were fighting only for a 'qualified' nominee. . . . But whatever the rationale, the fact is that they short-circuited the confirmation process by raising hell with Bush. . . . A cabal of outsiders--a lynching squad of right-wing journalists, self-sanctified religious and moral organizations, and other frustrated power-brokers--[rolled] over the president they all ostensibly support." --David Broder, Washington Post, Nov. 2 Nothing like the calming tones of The Dean to bring context and a needed sense of perspective to the proceedings. In his comments on Sunday's "Meet...

"The conservative screamers who shot down [Harriet] Miers can argue that they were fighting only for a 'qualified' nominee. . . . But whatever the rationale, the fact is that they short-circuited the confirmation process by raising hell with Bush. . . . A cabal of outsiders--a lynching squad of right-wing journalists, self-sanctified religious and moral organizations, and other frustrated power-brokers--[rolled] over the president they all ostensibly support." --David Broder, Washington Post, Nov. 2       Nothing like the calming tones of The Dean to bring context and a needed sense of perspective to the proceedings. In his comments on Sunday's "Meet the Press" and in his...

Facing draft, Alito joined Army Reserve Wednesday, November 2, 2005; Posted: 10:42 p.m. EST (03:42 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito joined the Army Reserve while he was a college student because his lottery number had made it likely he would be drafted for the Vietnam War, college roommates said Wednesday. Alito was part of the Army's ROTC program during his years at Princeton -- 1968 to 1972 -- a period when the war in Southeast Asia escalated and more American men were drafted. In 1971, President Nixon ended student deferments, increasing the pool of potential military...

Gazing from across an ocean at the undoing of US President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court was like gazing at Elysium. In the public debate that erupted in the wake of Bush's announcement four weeks ago that he was nominating his personal attorney to the highest court in America, we saw what a real policy debate in a well-functioning democracy looks like. And if democracy is the best system of government known to man, then a well-functioning democratic system is the best of the best. That is, it is paradise. A well-functioning democracy...

WASHINGTON -- A centrist Democratic senator complimented Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Wednesday as a jurist who won't "hammer away and chisel away" existing law. While Sen. Ben Nelson did not endorse President Bush's latest nominee for the high court, he did say he was impressed by what he heard from Alito during his introductory visit. The Nebraska Democrat, who was Alito's first senatorial host Wednesday, told reporters that he got assurances that Alito would not be "judicial activist" or "take an agenda to the bench" if confirmed to succeed Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring.

In a new Gallup poll, Americans are split on the selection of Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, with 43% believing that the selection is either excellent or good, while 39% believe that the selection was fair or poor. About half of Americans feel positively about Alito as a person, with a small minority, only 19% of those polled, disliking him personally. About half of those polled also feel that his views are mainstream, and only 25% feel that his views are too extreme. The most pressing issue for Alito seems to be that of the possible reversal of...

Just the week before, Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, had cheerfully predicted that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers had “turned the corner” and would never withdraw her name from consideration. Now, a few hours after Miers proved him dead wrong, Sekulow sounded as upbeat as ever. “She did the noble thing,” Sekulow told the million-plus people listening to his daily radio show on Christian stations last Thursday, adding, confidentially, “I saw this coming.” The next nominee, he predicted, would be a sitting judge just as worthy of support as Miers. It was vintage...

Principled conservatism By Tony Blankley November 2, 2005 Last week, the conservative movement had its Rosa Parks moment: We refused to give up our seat on the bus even for a Republican president. Regarding that event, liberals, mainstream mediacrities as well as conservative movementistas all shared a common impression: Something important happened last week for conservatism — and thus for the broader political scene. The successful opposition to Harriet Miers was not a triumph for just some faction of the conservative movement. If it used to be said that the Church of England was the Tory Party at prayer, then...

Commentary: The Mac is back By William John Hagan Houston Home Journal 11/02/2005 Mac Collins is returning to Georgia politics and he is pulling out all the stops. On Thursday night Washington Republicans raised $100,000 for Collins and, the next night at Henderson Village, the citizen's of Houston County did them one better by bringing the Vice President to town and raising $140,000 more. Collins is a man on mission and the job is to defeat Congressman Jim Marshall. This race is still one year away but it has already been identified as one of the nation's most important Congressional...

SALT LAKE CITY - After President Bush has left office and historians start to chronicle his legacy, Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, may turn out to have far less significance than Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005. Friday, Oct. 28 was a sort of "black Friday" for Mr. Bush, in which he endured the indictment of a senior aide, I. Lewis Libby Jr., following a string of presidential problems that have eroded public support for the president. But Thursday, Dec. 15 is the day when Iraqis choose a new parliament to serve for the next four years. If Iraqis, who have exhibited great...

Now that we have a real Scotus nominee where are all the Miers supporters. Be consistant if you can.

"Bush, a hateful (edited) himself, nominates a hateful (edited) to the Supreme Court, even as his circle of hateful (edited) narrows under indictments" Samuel Alito. This is the guy Bush chose to replace the Bob-Dylan/birdwoman Harriet Meiers. Alito's record shows he supports HUGE restrictions on civil rights. Here is how a well-known law journal summed up his views on minorities and women: "Alito has a disturbing record in cases involving discrimination based on race, disability and gender. Under his judicial philosophy, victims would face near-impossible burdens to..." The AP reported today that Alito was going to the Capitol Rotunda with...

DeWine's position is a stark departure from the conciliatory tone he struck as one of seven Republicans and seven Democrats who brokered the compromise earlier this year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) praised President Bush’s nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. “Samuel Alito is by all accounts a dedicated public servant and brilliant legal scholar who works well with his colleagues,” said Tancredo. “Most importantly, he has a solid track record of 15 years as a circuit court judge. Today, faithful conservatives are yelling ‘Yes!’” Tancredo was one of the first Congressmen to voice concern about President Bush’s prior Supreme Court pick, Harriet Miers, because she lacked a strong background in Constitutional law and a known judicial philosophy. Tancredo continued, “The Republican base...

The choice of Miers seemed like it was off-kilter from the get-go. Bush was not in the dark about how rank conservatives would feel about Harriet Miers. Therefore, this (and the propensity to trust the President) make me wonder. What if the Miers nomination was a ploy? Let's assume it was, and think about how it would have gone down. After a huge fight over Roberts (and the fact that he got through), the Democrats would have their weapons loaded, cocked, safety off, prepared to shoot down ANY nominee that the President puts forth, to prove how manly and brave...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made the following statement on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Graham is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Judge Alito is one of the most distinguished individuals to ever be nominated to the Supreme Court. His qualifications are beyond reproach. As a judge, he has compiled a long track record showing he is a strict constructionist. With this choice President Bush continues to fulfill his campaign promise to appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court. “The American people have rejected liberal judicial activism from the...

Following Harriet Miers, who removed her name from consideration, Bush today nominated Judge Samuel Alito -- who has nineteen years experience at various judicial levels, including the federal one -- as his present choice to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor, a swing vote who swung in many directions during her years on the high court. Miers had an unclear past, as far as conservatives were concerned. Then, her nomination flags went from doubt to danger when some liberals came out in support of her. The motivation for these liberals to do that was both unlikely and...

                           41 ALITO, Circuit Judge, concurring in the judgment. I do not join Judge Barry's opinion, which was never necessary and is now obsolete. That opinion fails to discuss the one authority that dictates the result in this appeal, namely, the Supreme Court's decision in Stenberg v. Carhart, 2000 WL 825889 (U.S. June 28, 2000). Our responsibility as a lower court is to follow and apply controlling Supreme Court precedent. I write briefly to explain why Carhart requires us to affirm the decision of the District Court in this case. This is an appeal by the New Jersey State Legislature...

George W. Bush's administration has come through what many have been saying would be its worst week, and it has turned out to be -- well, if not one of the best, then one that is far more encouraging than most of the mainstream media expected. Four events, or non-events, have put the administration in a position to make progress and advance the standing of the president and his party in public policy and in the public opinion polls. The first of these events, at least in world importance, was the announcement on Oct. 25 of the approval of the...

A conservative friend and political animal called the other day. This was before Harriet Miers officially became a bit player in the quasi-comedy, quasi-tragedy that Bush administration No. 2 became this past week. In this production, Ms. Miers went from a co-star to bit player in about 30 days. If she had any speaking lines at all, we already can’t remember them. Anyway, our friend had a question for the Charles Krauthammers, George Wills, Bill Kristols and other card-carrying, TV-appearing members of the Conservative Intelligentsia who formed the popular front against Ms. ex-Nominee. The question: So what if Harriet Miers...

WELL, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT. In Judge Sam Alito, President Bush has chosen a more plausible High Court nominee. Make that a much more plausible nominee. His legal qualifications are exceptional, his character widely attested. And having spent 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he has demonstrated an approach to judging that clearly identifies him as a judicial conservative. Two points are worth noting on day one of this nomination. The first is Alito's legal experience. His many years on the Third Circuit mean that he knows the labor of an appellate judge,...

Contact: Tracey Schmitt 202-863-8614 WASHINGTON –RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman issued the following statement on Senator Chuck Schumer’s political attacks on Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel Alito.“Earlier this year, Senator Schumer showed us that he was willing to use Hurricane Katrina to raise campaign cash.  It was wrong to politicize a natural disaster and it's wrong to distort what should be a thoughtful and deliberate process to place an eminently qualified judge on the High Court.  This isn’t the first time that Senator Schumer has made ominous threats about a nomination to further his political and fundraising goals.  Senator Schumer needs...

When Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. accepted his nomination to the Supreme Court with President Bush standing over his shoulder like a proud father, Alito dropped an unsubtle hint that he will be tough to mess with. "I argued my first case before the Supreme Court in 1982, and I still vividly recall that day," said Alito, who was put on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, in Philadelphia, by Bush's father. Underscore "first"; this is a lawyer who's been in the end zone before.