Statement on the Judiciary Contempt Citations for Miers and Bolton

Press Release

Congressman Hank Johnson today voted to support the contempt citations of Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten for refusing to comply with subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary Committee. The report passed by a vote of 22-17. The Congressman's statement is as follows:

I support the Resolution to cite Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers for contempt of Congress. The Administration has caused Ms. Miers to defy a subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary Committee while refusing to produce documents. Despite Judiciary Committee efforts to negotiate a reasonable solution, the Committee has been stonewalled with Administration claims of immunity and Executive Privilege.

Let me be clear about two things: Executive Privilege is not an absolute shield. And the Supreme Court has ruled that even the President is not immune to a subpoena.

Disturbing questions remain to be answered about the mass firings of the U.S. Attorneys. The fact is that we still do not know what led to the unprecedented decision to fire these Attorneys. We do not know who is behind these firings, what the reasons were behind them, and why the White House has been an obstacle to finding the truth. It is apparent that there is an on-going attempt to cover up the truth of what really happened, and why.

The Administration is free to fire US Attorneys, but it can not pervert the Justice system by persecuting political opponents with politically-motivated prosecutions; it cannot impede corruption cases involving Administration supporters, it cannot obstruct justice, nor can it manipulate voter rights and elections.

Source