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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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Mukasey Nixes Bush Aides Contempt Case

AG rejects House request, saying no crime was committed

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(Newser) – A  showdown over executive privilege got more likely yesterday when Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he wouldn't pursue contempt charges against two Bush aides, Reuters reports. Mukasey rejected the request from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refer the case to a grand jury, arguing that they had committed no crime by refusing to testify to Congress about the controversial firing of 9 US prosecutors.

Bush ordered White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers not to cooperate with the probe, and that directive was legal, Mukasey wrote to Pelosi. The Dems' next step would be to take the matter directly to the courts, but a White House spokesman said a federal judge would probably turn the case down.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaks in this 2007 file photo in Washington. Mukasey on Friday refused to refer the House's contempt citations against two of President Bush's top aides to a federal grand jury. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, FILE)
Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaks in this 2007 file photo in Washington. Mukasey on Friday refused to refer the House's contempt citations against two of President Bush's top aides to a federal...   (Associated Press)
Attorney General Michael Mukasey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2008, before the House Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
Attorney General Michael Mukasey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2008, before the House Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)   (Associated Press)
House Republicans stage a walkout on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, over a Democratic resolution that would hold some of President Bush's former aides in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions before the House Judiciary Committee. The resolution passed but Attorney General Michael Mukasey has...
House Republicans stage a walkout on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, over a Democratic resolution that would hold some of President Bush's former aides in contempt of Congress for...   (Associated Press)
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