Contempt of Congress

The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines on Wednesday to hold President Bush’s chief of staff and the former White House counsel in contempt of Congress. The issue now goes before the full House, where the Democrats who control the chamber suggested it would not be taken up until after the August recess. In the debate before the 22-to-17 vote to pass the contempt resolution, Democrats on the committee firmly rejected the White House argument that the invocation of executive privilege blocked Congress from obtaining information from Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, or Joshua Boulton, the chief of staff. The Judiciary Committee had issued subpoenas seeking testimony from Ms. Miers and documents from Mr. Bolten as part of an investigation into whether there was any improper political influence in the dismissal of several federal prosecutors. What do you think?