Chairwoman Sanchez Rules against Executive Privilege...

[windbreeze]

giving you the link..

http://speaker/gov/blog/?p=607

July 19th, 2007 by Jesse Lee
Today the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law met to consider the executive privilege claims asserted by White House Counsel in response to the subpoena for the production of documents issued to Joshua Bolten, White House Chief of Staff or appropriate custodian of records.

Chairwoman Linda Sánchez’s ruling:


Ruling on White House Executive Privilege Claims

We have received letters from White House Counsel Fred Fielding on June 28 and July 9 refusing to produce documents concerning our U.S. Attorney investigation that were called for in our June 13 subpoena to White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, and further refusing to even provide the necessary information to explain his purported executive privilege claim. On July 17, Chairman Conyers and I again wrote to Mr. Fielding, notified him we would formally consider those privilege claims today, and again urged compliance with the June 13 subpoena.

Let me say at the outset that Congress certainly recognizes and appreciate the fact that, in appropriate circumstances, a President may need to assert executive privilege over White House information. We therefore take executive privilege claims seriously, and treat them with the careful consideration we believe is appropriate. In this case, we have given the White House’s privilege claims careful consideration, and the Chair is prepared to rule that those claims are not legally valid and that Joshua Bolten of the White House is required pursuant to subpoena to produce the documents called for.

After I make my ruling, I will entertain a motion to sustain it, but first I would like to set forth the legal grounds for it. A number of these grounds are similar to the grounds in the ruling sustained by this Subcommittee on July 12 overruling the related executive privilege and immunity claims sought to be raised by Harriet Miers through her counsel, and where appropriate, I will incorporate the reasoning and legal authorities by reference. The grounds for my ruling today are as follows:

First, the claims of executive privilege are not properly asserted. We have not received a statement from the President himself asserting the privilege, even though Chairman Conyers has specifically requested one. As stated in my July 12 ruling and as incorporated by reference herein, the courts have ruled that a personal assertion of executive privilege by the President is legally required for the privilege claim to be valid, as, for example, in the Shultz case.

<snip> the rest at the link....(hope this was the proper forum?)

windbreeze

[fasttense]

1. Your link only gives me an error.

Here is a better link.

http://oldamericancentury.org/bb/index.php?showtopic=15238

There is even a letter from Conyers there. Good site for information.

July 19, 2007

BY FAX AND U.S. MAIL

Mr. Fred F. Fielding
Counsel to the President
Office of the Counsel to the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Mr. Fielding:

I am disappointed that the President’s Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has continued to disobey the subpoena served on him on June 13, 2007, and has not produced the documents called for by that subpoena. Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the text of a ruling by Chairwoman Sánchez at today’s meeting of the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law rejecting the claims of privilege that you have sought to raise in response to that subpoena. The ruling was sustained by a 7-3 vote of the Subcommittee.

This letter is to formally notify you that I must insist on compliance with the subpoena, and that Mr. Bolten’s failure to promptly mitigate his noncompliance could result in contempt proceedings, including but not limited to proceedings under 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194 or under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives. In light of Chairwoman Sánchez’s ruling, we strongly urge immediate production of the responsive documents pursuant to the subpoena. Please let me know in writing by 10 a.m. on Monday July 23, 2007, whether Mr. Bolten will comply. If I do not hear from you in the affirmative by then, the Committee will have no choice but to consider appropriate recourse.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman

[DeSwiss]

2. This is the best part fasttense....

Please let me know in writing by 10 a.m. on Monday July 23, 2007, whether Mr. Bolten will comply. If I do not hear from you in the affirmative by then, the Committee will have no choice but to consider appropriate recourse.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman

Its time to impeach.

Great post windbreeze! :)

K&R!!!

[windbreeze]

3. OMG try this LINK...I originally made a mistake...

a stupid mistake...here is the correct link...wb

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=607