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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.

It is an honor and privilege to live in the United States, the greatest country in the world. Yet for all its blessings, American society is beset by serious problems, including jihadists seeking weapons of destruction who want to create a world caliphate; a violent, sexually loaded popular culture that targets our children; unelected judges who ignore the Constitution and abuse their powers; and a disrespect for human life that has resulted in tens of millions of abortions. It is possible to become demoralized and conclude that everything is hopeless, and that we should withdraw from the political and cultural...

For Immediate Release 07/25/2007 Pelosi Statement on Contempt of Congress Vote by House Judiciary Committee Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on a vote by the House Judiciary Committee calling for the full House to seek contempt of Congress citations for White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers following their refusal to comply with subpoenas issued in the U.S. Attorney investigation: “The contempt proceedings in the House Judiciary Committee today are part of a broader effort by House Democrats to restore our nation’s fundamental system of checks and...

Snow blasts ‘pathetic’ House panel move By Klaus Marre July 25, 2007 White House spokesman Tony Snow strongly criticized congressional Democrats Wednesday, calling the House Judiciary Committee’s move to advance a contempt of Congress citation against two White House staffers “pathetic.” The panel voted along party lines to bring the citation against former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and President Bush’s chief of staff, Josh Bolten, to the full House. Democrats say the move is warranted because Bolten and Miers ignored congressional subpoenas. The vote drew a harsh rebuke from Snow, who told reporters that the partisanship in Congress “quite...

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee voted contempt of Congress citations Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and President Bush's former legal counselor, Harriet Miers. The 22-17 party-line vote — which would sanction for pair for failure to comply with subpoenas on the firings of several federal prosecutors — advanced the citation to the full House. A senior Democratic official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the House itself likely would take up the citations after Congress' August recess. The official declined to speak on the record because no date had been set for the House...

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 told no-show witness Harriet Miers on Friday that she could soon be held in contempt as they issued the Republican National Committee a new subpoena for White House e-mails. The deadline for replies from both: Tuesday. Miers, President Bush's former legal counsel who a day earlier defied a subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, could be held in criminal contempt of Congress if she fails to notify the panel by Tuesday that she has changed her mind and will appear, according to a letter sent to her attorney by Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich....

Bush Denies Congress Access to Key Aides Jul 9 10:25 AM US/Eastern By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush invoked executive privilege Monday to deny requests by Congress for testimony from former White House aides Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers. The White House offered once more to make the pair available for private, off-the-record interviews on any role it might have played in the firings of several U.S. attorneys. In a letter to the heads of the House and Senate Judiciary panels, White House counsel Fred Fielding insisted that Bush was acting in good faith and...

‘The 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion…’ -Associated Press April 19, 2007 “It's ready for a retarded president, why wouldn't it be ready for an African American president?’ -Chris Rock, Life Magazine 2007 President Bush’s management strategy is a thing of beauty. Walk around, act sort of absent-minded, mix up your words here and there, and people begin to lower their expectations – and their defenses. In an unguarded moment, something slips...

The House Judiciary Committee could vote as early as Tuesday to subpoena Karl Rove, White House deputy chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, former White House counsel, as part of the panel's probe into their role in the recent firing of eight U.S. attorneys. E-mails released this week show that Rove was aware of January 2005 discussions within the White House to fire all 93 U.S. attorneys, contradicting earlier White House statements about when and how much Rove was involved in the issue. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) was told by White House Counsel Fred Fielding on Friday...

In a signal that he could be open to working more closely with congressional Democrats rather than stonewalling, President Bush plans to name the widely respected Republican lawyer Fred F. Fielding as White House counsel this week, party sources tell TIME. Fielding, who held the same position under President Ronald Reagan, will succeed the President's friend Harriet Miers, who last week announced her resignation, effective Jan. 31. An official who has been briefed on the impending announcement, which could come as soon as Tuesday, called Fielding "the ultimate Washington lawyer-insider — he's the man to see." "He's the guy who...

Miers Resigns As White House Counsel In this Oct. 27, 2005, file photo, White House counsel Harriet Miers smiles as she walks into the White House in Washington. Miers has submitted her resignation as White House counsel, the White House announced Thursday. CHARLES DHARAPAKBy DEB RIECHMANN (Associated Press Writer) From Associated Press January 04, 2007 12:57 PM EST WASHINGTON - Harriet Miers, President Bush's failed Supreme Court nominee and longtime adviser, on Thursday submitted her resignation as White House counsel. White House press secretary Tony Snow said the president reluctantly accepted her resignation, which takes effect Jan. 31. He said...

Open Letter to the GOP by Alan Caruba Posted Jul 11, 2006 I recently received a direct mail notice from Ken Mehlman, Chairman of the Republican National Committee saying that, “Our records show we have not yet received your 2006 Republican National Committee membership contribution.” One assumes a lot of these notices have been mailed to folks like myself who have decided not to financially support the GOP this year. They won’t miss my donation because it’s always small. It’s not that I won’t vote the Republican ticket in November. I probably will, but that’s because the Democrats in my...

"Trust the president." That was the Bush administration's main defense of the president's bizarre choice of corporate lawyer Harriet Miers for a seat on the Supreme Court. But the administration also had a backup rationale: as D.C.'s Hill newspaper reported, in an October 3, 2005, conference call with conservative leaders, Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman stressed "the need to confirm a justice who will not interfere with the administration's management of the war on terrorism." It was a bit unsettling to hear that proposition stated so baldly, but no one who has followed the administration's drive to expand executive...

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....

President Bush yesterday told Congress to increase legal immigration and temporary visas as part of the debate over illegal aliens and enforcement. "I've called on Congress to increase the number of green cards that can lead to citizenship," Mr. Bush said. "I support increasing the number of visas available for foreign-born workers in highly skilled fields like science, medicine and technology." ... The president first called for more green cards in 2004 when he announced his guest-worker proposal. Green cards signify permanent legal residence and are the key intermediate step toward citizenship. Mr. Bush has not said how big an...

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/nation/10024757.html According to a Gulf News poll, 64 per cent of readers say the DP World affair "changed their opinion for the worst" about investing in the United States. A number of businessmen told the newspaper yesterday that Arab investors would think about other destinations. The majority agreed that DP World has been forced out of the US port operations due to "racism". President George W. Bush admitted Congress has sent the "wrong message" to the rest of the world. We don't feel that DP World lost. It in fact won the respect of the international business community when it...

by Mark Finkelstein March 9, 2006 Talk about people who live in glass houses . . . For some time now, Chris Matthews has played the leitmotif of a "second-rate second term" at the White House. When on this evening's Hardball he invited Margaret Carlson to whack the Bush pinata, there were embarrassing consequences for the toothy ex-Time editor, now languishing at Bloomberg News. Matthews tried his best to tee it up for Carlson: "Margaret, I look at a pattern of events and they come out of people's mouths, conservatives, liberals, whatever: Katrina - competence question. That nomination for the...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush are spending the weekend at their ranch in Crawford, TX. They will return to Washington on time for President Bush to participate in the swearing-in of new Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the U.S. central bank in Washington. The Fed said in a statement that the ceremony was scheduled for 10 a.m. (1500 GMT). Mr. Bernanke's acceptance remarks will be his first public comments since he took office. Former Chairman Alan Greenspan, members of Congress and the cabinet, and agency officials were among the invited guests, the Fed said. Fed...