House Dems Say They Have Enough Support For CRIMINAL CONTEMPT Resolution Against Miers & Bolton [View All]

Bolten, Miers in Dems' contempt crosshairs

By: John Bresnahan
Oct 26, 2007 06:09 AM EST

House Democratic leaders have begun privately surveying their members to determine their support for a criminal contempt resolution against White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers for shunning congressional subpoenas in the U.S. attorney investigation.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said the contempt motion could be brought to the House floor “as early as next week,” but Democratic leadership aides cautioned that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has not yet made any final decision on a vote. And one House aide close to the situaton said a vote was "more likely" in two weeks.

If a criminal contempt resolution were approved against Miers and Bolten, it would represent a dramatic escalation in the battle between the White House and Congress over the extent of executive privilege and the president’s right to shield senior aides from Congress.

Several Democratic lawmakers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they had been “whipped” on the contempt issue in the last several days, and all said they would back the measure if it came to the floor.

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