Bush won't supply subpoenaed documents

Source: Associated Press

Bush won't supply subpoenaed documents

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The White House, moving toward a constitutional
showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday
and rejected lawmakers' demands for documents that could shed
light on the firings of federal prosecutors.

President Bush's attorney told Congress the White House would
not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential
counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor.

"With respect, it is with much regret that we are forced down
this unfortunate path which we sought to avoid by finding grounds
for mutual accommodation," White House counsel Fred Fielding said
in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary
Committees. "We had hoped this matter could conclude with your
committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke
executive privilege. Instead, we are at this conclusion."

Thursday was the deadline for surrendering the documents. The
White House also made clear that Miers and Taylor would not
testify next month, as directed by the subpoenas, which were
issued June 13. The stalemate could end up with House and Senate
contempt citations and a battle in federal court over separation
of powers.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush...

How in the HELL are these bastards allowed to do this again and again and again, with impunity and no consequences? I really don't understand.

And that keeps the American public apathetic, at best.

I, too am an old guy - and also a Vikings fan (though in the past couple of years it's been pretty hard).

Perhaps in the future in a Galaxy far,far away our dreams will... well forget it.

And BTW, Welcome Old Guy. Chippewa Falls here. I haven't been up that way for a while but I know another DUer up your way (kinda near Danbury, actually).

At present I'm feeling my way very slowly and carefully. When we used to have snow? in this area, we used to trailer to Danbury and ride the trails north. Very nice up there.

I think there are a lot of us old guys on DU.

God, did I really say that?

Nice to meet-chu on the DU!

In peace,

Radio Lady in Oregon (film, theater and book reviewer)

Aging as gracefully as possible -- just turned 68 on May 31. 35 years in TV and talk radio broadcasting in Miami and Boston, now retired to true blue Portland, OR and volunteering at Oregon Public Broadcasting, the PBS station out here.

http://www.opb.org

More about Radio_Lady at: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Radio_Lady

OT: Our best friends just moved to Mequon, WI in January. We miss them like heck and we're Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI bound for a visit -- probably sometime in 2008.

and am being overrun by oregano, thyme and mint!

Welcome to DU!

Today they voted to desegregate schools effectively saying that race cannot be used as a quota to fill student vacancies in schools... That is a huge conservative victory... Stephen Bryer said it best today

"Never have so few done so much so quickly" Making the court conservative.

Bush will win and SCOTUS decision hands down.

This country is so divided right now Civil War is not out of the question.

Stand by because this court is far from done...

I predict Roe V Wade to be overturned in the near future that may be the catalyst.

If they overturn Roe Vs Wade they will lose their most powerful catalyst. This, along with gay rights, is how they invigorate the Christian fundamentalist vote. Think it over.

Even if Roe v. Wade was overturned and the Constitutional Amendment prohibiting gay marriage was enacted, the fundies wouldn't be satisfied. There are so many other issues: mandatory Christian prayer in school, full public funding of Christian churches (vouchers are just the tip of the iceberg), the Ten Commandments posted in every public building, the Lord's Prayer said at every public event, etc., etc. Somewhere in the noise of television evangelists and O'Reilly clones the message of Christ -- love your neighbor, take care of the poor and infirm, etc. -- got lost.

The Repugs will always have some hot-button issue that makes their base turn off their ability to think rationally. And if all else fails, they can always fall back on racism.

Sometimes I feel like there are two countries now. I have absolutely nothing in common with the Ann Coulter's and Sean Hannity's of our time, or the people who champion them. It would be great if they could take their elitist, hypocritical and distorted opinions with them to another place and start their own little utopia.

Sorry, most people are too caught up in Paris Hilton to care what is going on. We are a LONG way from any sort of armed anything.

the American people. I suspect the Supremes are judicious enough, if not all virtuous enough, to recognise that.

The US is founded on parallel and opposite concepts. The rights of robber barons to have their will with the people as they please; and the concept of democracy, rule of the people, by the people and for the peopple. Isn't that your expression?

Now, in order to get their evil way, the far right have paid scandalously mendacious lip-service to the latter. Thing is though, this is the ultimate condensation of the said conflict into the most transparent of nutshells.

It is the pivot, the fulcrum, upon which everything the US is said to stand for - by Republicans, no less than Democrats (however often putative the allegiance of the latter to democracy might be). There would be no more saluting Old Glory, singing the Star Spangled Banner, no more dwelling on the history of the country's fight for independence. Any commemoration of "no taxation without representation" would be a total embarrassment. It would be, as if Bush were to order the Statue of Liberty to be taken down and smashed in a public ceremony, and a statue of Honecker erected in its place.

Mendacious propaganda, it seems, can be like karma. It works as long as the whole nation are not able to examine it under a spotlight. If they are... well, you have to restore credibility in an equally simple and transparent way, i.e by compliance of the the Oval Office with the lawmakers' requirements.

When the Supremes, at their pleasure, awarded the presidency to Bush, it was at the apogee of an emotional roller-coaster election charade; not in the clear light of day.

They are above the law of the land, and have no respect for any stinkin' constitution.

Assholes.

there have been ZERO consequences for their crimes.

who think they are above any laws and can do whatever the hell they please. dictators do that you know.

We would have already have an impeachment by now.

But SOME people CHOOSE not to!

Why do you think those 23% Luddites still support this dangerous fool along with the corporate press. THEY LIKE BEING ABOVE THE LAW...Its a Nazi thing. Its like impeachment only applies to democrats too.

to DO anything! What, we don't want the mean nasty republicans to get mad at us? Please. We promise not to filibuster. Timid and meek does not win many battles.

...that should count for something.

Impeach the bastard!

Karl Rove hasn't been on bended knees beneath the Oval Office desk giving the shrub some head?

With Jeff Gannon taking the video...

Little Jeffy holding the camera is rich, and, while under normal circumstances it could be rather hot, this is one production I would rather not thank about.

Actually, my guess it was Harriet Miers holding the camera. Jeffy was probably the boom man.

they will be tried in the courts and the congress

Or maybe they are incapable of doing anything (other than meaningless, symbolic gestures) until they know for certain that they are guaranteed of success?

Or maybe, they are hoping to claim the same vast power when the Republicks are voted out of the White House, regardless of how unconstitutional that power might be?

The people are the government and the only way to fight the big corporations that put these thugs in office is to unionize together to fight corporate America and bullshit artists such as the Neocon.

The Senate, having a Democratic majority and several Republicans against Bush/Cheney now, should be ramming subpoenas up Bush and Cheney's proverbial asses. There should be public hearings under oath by Bush and Cheney and Rice and all the rest of the cabal.

If you don't agree, think for a minute or two about what would be happening if the president were currently Democratic and the Senate was just as it is. You know the Republicans would be like a nest of fire ants and the TV would be filled with pictures of crooked politicians shamefully admitting guilt or fighting like banshees to stay out of jail. Now reverse the picture back again. Why are our guys so slow, so polite, so understanding? WHY ALL THIS DEFERENCE TO CRIMINALS???? WHY????

But the fact is, that if Bill Clinton DID do this, or if Al Gore (Hail Al Gore!) had asserted that he was not a member of the executive branch, the talk radio wingnuts would be apoplectic, and would likely be forming lynch mobs to march on washington as we speak. But Dumbya could be caught sodomizing the dead coming into Dover AFB and the yokels would tell themselves he must've had a good reason and then zone out until the next runaway bride update.

or asserted executive privilege time and time again, or met in secret with so-called energy task forces, or was always hiding out in undisclosed locations, or had seemed to be pulling Clinton's puppet strings -- then Hannity's head would have exploded with the force of a neutron bomb.

The only tiny comfort I take is that the Dems may very well win the White House, and in January 2009 we will start seeing if the Freepers really like these ideas about unitary executive, and the politicizing the Dept of Justice, and signing statements and having separate email accounts paid for by the DNC, and lack of transparency and photo-ops, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Any liberties taken in the WH office will be applicable to the new President and Vice-president. I can't wait to see how the roaches in all those government offices scatter when the Dem president has the Bush-granted rights to wire-tap anyone he GD well pleases...legally.

cannot be invoked by a democratic president. Jesus may or may not be involved. Everything will be different. EVERYTHING.

guns and handcuffs into the White House, and you better have ALL your ducks in a row before you do that.

This could get interesting.

should stay until these docs are handed up to the Hill.

That is the sight I'm waiting for but looks like BushCo will just run out the clock. I wish Congress would just arrest these obstructors-of-justice.

At least when Dems are in office in 2008 we can use this as precedent to blow off subpoenas. Oh wait, that won't matter since we'll be in control of Congress too.

Shiny thing!! Lookee!! Shiny thing!!

to allow John Conyers to investigate their crimes...

And the media. They get what they want. In any language.

and that is what this mal-administration has done to this country, its Constitution and its government.

Have they not learned anything from history? Oh I forgot they are all under some sort of spell that makes them put his defense above their own best interests

They know that if this goes to the SC they had better than a 50/50 shot at winning.

followed by censure.

Bought judges voting against the constitution are sowing the seeds for their eventual impeachment as the pendulum continues its swing back from the brink of fascism.

They want their rigged court to affirm the Unitary Executive. if they do, God help us.

This has been the Federalist Society battle plan all along.

Is the fix in, like in 2000? Or will the court defy Bush, like with Gitmo?

I don't think kennedy is one of those unitary executive wingnuts.

There is no way they rule against Bush. The Neo-Cons have effectively pulled off a successful coup d'Etat and the American people aren't even aware of it. Welcome to fascist America.

exactly

eliminate checks and balances

And it would be a successful coup d' Etat by the Neo-Cons. We have been taken over by fascists and the American people don't even realize it.

Plus the fact that if the SCOTUS would rule the congress irrelevant do they not realize that they will be setting themselves up as well? * could simply say he doesn't need to pay attention to the court and since the court has said congress has no over site, * rules alone. Too far fetched?

for the past six years. Once the Supreme Court right wingers vote for Unitary Executive Privilege, we will have
an official fascist state.

It's now or never...

That contempt case ended only because of a resignation, if I remember correctly. (But it was the seventies so you'll have to forgive me if my memory is a little shaky.)

nixon resigned. moron* will make sure that everyone takes the blame but him*, but in the end he* will be and like he* always has been, the biggest loser of them all.

'cause after the good guys made the case against him there were enough pukes convinced that they should remove him.

Conyers should have been allowed to begin the process the day the Dems were sworn in control of the Congress.

Fuck Pelosi and her cowardice!!!

Bush's refusal to supply subpoenaed documents will also fade into the Dem's list of bothched attempts to make this administration accountable?!! getting really pathetic folks...

they mean business or our chances in '08 are shaky at best.

when they confirmed Alito

coroner's report:

cause of death or u.s. democracy: dry powder syndrome.

sigh. So sad that I even have to ponder such a question.

But c'mon, guys, prove me wrong!!!

My God, everyday it gets worse. I said 6 years ago to my family...."If we only knew 1/8th of what was REALLY going on...our hair would fall out." This is getting really scary...they have deemed us all powerless simply by refusing anything they want coming down the pike. The apathy of the American Idol mentality has painted us all in a corner. God help us all.

I'll just point out that Supreme Court judges can be impeached by the Congress.

Yeah, a lot of us were in that same place - trying to warn the resolutely ignorant, apathetic, or "too busy". But even we couldn't have guessed how far or how deep or how egregious...

Dear God, I hope the Dems are going to flex some muscle.

My kingdom for a Democratic backbone!

I'd like to recommend to all the DU Activist Forum and please, get involved in any action Calimary suggests.

Thank you, C. You are one of the bestest of the best ever in the long history of DU.

Peace\

And announce, loud and clear, that this admin. thinks they are above the law of the land, and that congress has no choice but to act on this immediately.

Has anyone heard any response from the Dems?

crickets.....

this IS the time.. it's like a movie scene right about now, and the credits are about to roll, are they going to force the issue by law against this fascist state that says they can do whatever they want with no oversight, or are they going to lay back and get paid for their meaningless position in the gov't that effectively just decides where the money is scattered?
www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<---- speak on your car with these stickers!

Exclusively on the shopping channel.

Impeach the motherfucker already.

Impeach, Indict and IMPRISON! Enough already!!

a can of worms of investigative material going back to the election fraud in 2004, if gives an inch they lost it all... it's up to the Dem's to flex there backbone if they have one?!!

anymore. This is a hydra administration facing us, lets start lopping off some heads so we stand a chance in the Constitutional crisis that's coming down the road.

There's more than enough reason to impeach Gonzo, he's lied under oath several times. Hello. Pick the low hanging fruit first.

the court will rule 5-4 in the administration's favor

When will the Democrats in Congress get it through their head that the ONLY way to hold this administration for their actions is impeachment?

The Dems have to stay on this like a bunch of pit-bulls...this IS the moment of truth....PUSH BACK GOD SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lettem have it! both barrels! The Senate has got to go for the jugular on this, or they might as well castrate themselves--they'll be impotent forever if they let chimpster win on this.

The entire government is controlled by the corporations - the government is just a charade - a show to provide us hope and drama that somebody at some point is going to actually do something for the American people.

But it will never happen - because it's just a TV show. Hearings are shows. Votes are shows. Speeches are shows. It's all a big illusion.

And in the end, sure there may be somebody who gets "busted" - but even that's just the nature of show business. Even actors get fired and written of a show every once in a while.

The corporations will always win in the end, after all, they are the "sponsors" of the show.

Many of us have waited for the right time, and this is it. They have until July 18th to comply, and then it's time for contempt citations, which I believe document their criminal behavior. Then congress should move to impeachment proceedings. Leahy and Conyers know the drill, but the rest of the gang might need some diaper changing to follow through.

and what their duties are. Major abuse of power has occurred, from illegal wiretaps, invading a country based on lies, an attorney general who lied under oath, and witness tampering, and the only thing congress does is talk with no action

There is a reason their popularity is so low

I agree with your sentiments, but I have lost faith in the Dems to do anything right.

Because that's the party's track record, despite massive criminality on the part of the administration.

How many times have we seen this before? And if they don't like the rules, they go and change them.

Impeachment is definitely on the table now!

from some "unitary executive" piece undoubtedly published by the Federalist Society.

It is impossible for an ideologue to be a genius, or anything close to genius, or anything -- actuualy -- other than a toady, a slave, a lobotomized, pathetic shell.

I bet he has already done it. He is ready and waiting.

This was on an mlive.com forum: http://www.mlive.com/forums/newstalk/index.ssf?page=-1

I Saw Constitutional Scholar Jonathan Turley On Countdown Last Night....


He presented an interesting possibility. If the Democrats base their case for the records on possible criminal activity (illegal warrantless surveillance ordered by Bush)it could open the door to impeachment. So, Bush could be opening the door to possible impeachment or criminal charges after he leaves office by fighting the subpoena. Could get very interesting. I'm just not sure the Democrats Congressional leadership is smart enough or courageous enough to go down that road.

bathroom without getting permission from the GOP, much less smart or courageous enough to save the Union.

I saw the same thing. And I agree that door is wide open, but I don't have very much faith in the current batch of elected dems to do anything that takes a little political courage.

US v. Nixon

The Supreme Court addressed that the 'executive privilege' in United States v. Nixon, the 1974 case involving the demand by Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski that Richard Nixon produce the audiotapes of conversations he and his colleagues had in the Oval Office of the White House in connection with criminal charges being brought against members of the Nixon Administration. Nixon invoked the privilege and refused to produce any records.

The Supreme Court did not reject the claim of privilege out of hand; it noted, in fact, "the valid need for protection of communications between high Government officials and those who advise and assist them in the performance of their manifold duties" and that "uman experience teaches that those who expect public dissemination of their remarks may well temper candor with a concern for appearances and for their own interests to the detriment of the decisionmaking process." This is very similar to the logic that the Court had used in establishing an "executive immunity" defense for high office-holders charged with violating citizens' constitutional rights in the course of performing their duties.

The Supreme Court however rejected the notion that the President has an "absolute privilege." The Supreme Court stated: "To read the Article II powers of the President as providing an absolute privilege as against a subpoena essential to enforcement of criminal statutes on no more than a generalized claim of the public interest in confidentiality of nonmilitary and nondiplomatic discussions would upset the constitutional balance of 'a workable government' and gravely impair the role of the courts under Article III." Because Nixon had asserted only a generalized need for confidentiality, the Court held that the larger public interest in obtaining the truth in the context of a criminal prosecution took precedence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_privilege

docs appear very significant. I read yesterday on DU that Cheney gave the docs to National Archives until 2003, so he knows the drill just does not want to continue it. Very suspicious. I doubt in the Cheney/Bush duo there is anything left to subpoena.

"The American people have had it with this President. He has great disdain for Congress and its oversight role. He cares nothing for the Constitution, and he has destroyed our confidence in the fragile system that the founding fathers painstakingly developed over 200 years ago. In light of this, we have no other option than to begin impeachment proceedings. The framers gave our country this ability for exactly the situation we find ourselves in today. An out of control president who flaunts the rule of law and ignores the role of Congress must be removed from office. He is a danger to our way of government and he must be replaced. We have tried many times to work with him only to find that he repeatedly ignores the wishes of Congress and the American people. Perhaps with impeachment our country can begin to believe in itself and its leaders once more."

going to do? Are they going to slink away and say "we tried". How many times have they tried?

Are they going to use the excuse about the numbers in the senate and house?

I think we all understand their difficulty but we at least want some follow-up, some balls and some effort at getting something done.

So far they have been very weak and seem to cave if Bush just looks at them sternly.

However, I will continue to hope for something out of them.

the person to whom it issues has to comply or be in contempt. Contempt has sanctions that can end up in jail time if the one in receipt of a subpoena remains recalcitrant.

One who receives a subpoena can also move to quash it.

These are the procedures. It is not that Congress is "weak" or "caving" but that * is thumbing his nose at the law. Congress has to follow through, but if they are going within the rules, it's all they can do, so all the frustration with them expressed on DU is just failure to appreciate that.

whoever is in contempt. Is that correct?

is quashed? Does Congress make that decision?

The bottom line is power and being consumed with holding on to it at all cost...and, I'm describing Dems--with few exceptions.

The whole gutless, spineless, all talk BS is a part of it. The whole trying to over-think and over analyze to avoid any possibility of losing an individual seat is a big part of it. And, they being part of the same plutocracy is the biggest part of it!

I've been reading DU for several years and I've gotta be as fucking pissed off as anyone--but as far as I'm concerned, the waiting is over. Again, with few exceptions, we're being played.

Short of an all out rebellion, this same shit is going to continue forever.

Cheney junior & Rove have perfected the play.

They turned against Nixon, but for some reason they still think Cheney/Bush are gods.

That is my guess. They will defend their turd of a leader forever. Bank on it.

The "New" (de-)generation of Republiks thinks bu$che/chainy R divinities.

Do it.
Do it now.
Do it before the summer recess.

going to recognize and NAME the actual POWERS behind this puppet administration (with its de facto CEO Dick Cheney)?!? The Corporate Megalomaniacs--and who doesn't see that Cheney IS their CEO?!--have been successfully creating an environment most conducive to their profitability for the duration of Bush's administration (and before)! Are we too frightened to address this flaw inherent in Capitalism?!? Are we SO invested in grabbing the brass ring ourselves that we refuse to acknowledge that our own greed enables this administration?!?

I read recently a comment posted on Crooks and Liars decrying the impeachment of Dick Cheney. The author of said post asserted that impeaching Cheney would make him a martyr, and that "this is what they want!" Setting aside for now the question of who comprises this undefined 'they' (see above), consider this: this is a specious, vacuous argument, spun for us, I'm confident, by the Republicans themselves: "If they believe that impeachment will turn the nation against the Democrats, they won't impeach!"

We The People have begun to amass our voices and our votes. We The People want impeachment. We The People MUST use impeachment to heal our great nation, and to restore ourselves in the eyes of the rest of the world.

As Teddy said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public<\i>." Teddy was a Republican--a TRUE Republican.

Be steadfast in your bravery, my fellow activists!

Since they control media, they control the spin. They beat Dems to punch, because of it & spin out reasons why Dems "can't" or "shouldn't" do X or Y or Z.
If we see it, why can't our Reps in Congress see this?

BTW, Welcome to DU!

It's the only way to stop them...

further this investigation. Bush is sure that he has the courts in his hands and will win over the law/Constitution every time. The four SC right wing decisions yesterday proved that fact.

We have 4 that work for the good of America and 4 that are basically evil-doers toward the common man. Kennedy sometimes comes down on the righteous side. Lately, though, he's been siding with the troglodytes. Hopefully, his Gitmo rulings will carry over here.

...for justice to be served?? I am so fucking sick of all this. We no longer live in a democracy, the average American just doesn't realize it yet. I guess the only other recourse is to have another revolution as suggested in the Declaration of Independence. I don't see anything else that would work. Unfortunately, it is not a viable option. And so we continue down the path to facism.

we have a Constitutional Crisis

Congress doesn't matter
Laws don't matter

its reality

Bush controls the country

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Soon there will be nothing to subpoena. Like millions of e-mails, they will have been "lost".