Appeals Court Temporarily Stays Congressional Subpoenas For White House Aides

[maddezmom]

Source: AHN

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has temporarily stayed a ruling requiring top White House aides to comply with a subpoena issued by Congress about allegedly politically-motivated dismissals of federal attorneys.

The Justice Department has been trying to delay a court decision ordering presidential chief of staff Josh Bolten to provide documents, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify before lawmakers about the firings of nine prosecutors in 2006. Both officials refused to comply with subpoenas, citing executive privilege.

The House Judiciary panel filed a lawsuit in March in the U.S. District Court in Washington following a vote by the full chamber to cite Bolten and Miers for contempt. The lawsuit asked the court to enforce the subpoenas, the first suit of its kind from a chamber of Congress against the executive branch.

U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled in July that Bolten and Miers were not immune from congressional oversight. He rejected a motion from the Justice Department a month later to stay the ruling and postpone enforcing the subpoenas until after an appeal is heard.



Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012188105

[pleah]

1. Why am I not surprised. n/t

[spotbird]

2. There was never a chance

why do they bother?

[TrogL]

3. Who appointed the appeals court judge?

[Anticon]

4. It is OK

The investigation will go more smoothly when Obama is POTUS.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

6. I really do hope Obama/Bidden hold them ALL accountable. ...n/t

[hootinholler]

10. No. It's not OK.

Congress needs to cite inherent contempt and throw these bums in the pokey until they produce or the term expires.

It's most definitely NOT ok.

-Hoot

[Bandit]

17. Boy are you ever Naive.

There will be no investigation. Don't you understand, Democrats are every bit as culpable here..

[geomon666]

5. Did they say why? It's not in the article. n/t

[Pastiche423]

7. If it was stated, I missed it too

[MetaTrope]

8. Doesn't say much more, but...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/156/story/51845.html

Late Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in response to a Justice Department request, ordered lawyers for the House of Representatives and the White House to brief it by 4 p.m. Sept. 10 on whether it has jurisdiction to delay a lower court's order that former White House counsel Harriet Miers must appear before Congress to testify about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

[Karenina]

9. Off to GP with you.

:kick:

[DogPoundPup]

11. Temporary Stay Issued in White House Subpoena Case

Source: Legal Times

Government lawyers had a deadline -- Thursday -- to turn over to the House Judiciary Committee certain White House documents related to the ongoing probe of the U.S. Attorney firings. That deadline came and went. No documents. But Justice Department lawyers have an answer: The case is temporarily on hold.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a temporary administrative stay of a July 31 district court order that the government is vigorously challenging on appeal. The order, issued by U.S. District Judge John Bates, compels Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, and Joshua Bates, the White House chief of staff, to appear under subpoena before the House Judiciary Committee. The government must also turn over White House documents the committee has asked to review.

Justice Department lawyers argue Miers and Bates are immune from congressional subpoenas and that ordering their appearance violates separation of powers. Bates disagrees. The government has asked the appeals court to stay Bates' order pending an appellate court ruling.

In a per curiam order, Circuit Judges Douglas Ginsburg, Raymond Randolph and David Tatel said the parties must file supplemental memos that address two critical questions: Does the appellate court have jurisdiction and will the case become moot upon the expiration of the 110th Congress?

The House Judiciary Committee must respond by 4 p.m. Wednesday. The government lawyers have a shorter deadline: Monday at 10 a.m. The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing Sept. 11 at which Miers has been ordered by subpoena to appear. But the case is stayed until further order of the appeals court. The judges said their stay -- to give the court time to consider the merits of the government's position -- should not be construed as a ruling on the merits.



Read more: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424341949&rss=newswire

[Muttocracy]

12. so basically Bush et al are trying to run out the clock? nt

[ashling]

13. Ha, HA! Oh, that's rich!: WH protecting separation of powers.

Justice Department lawyers argue Miers and Bates are immune from congressional subpoenas and that ordering their appearance violates separation of powers.

:rofl::rofl:rofl::rofl::rofl:rofl::rofl::rofl:rofl::rofl::rofl:rofl:

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

[TOOLZ]

14. Appeals Court Temporarily Blocks Miers From Testifying Before Congress

Source: The Public Record

A federal appeals court temporarily blocked former White House Counsel Harriet Miers from testifying before a House panel next week about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys, the latest development in Congress’s yearlong effort to obtain information about the Bush administration’s role in the matter.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said House Judiciary Committee attorneys have until next Wednesday at 4 p.m. to argue why a ruling issued by a federal district judge last month, who rejected the White House’s blanket claim of executive privilege as unprecedented and ordered Miers to comply with a congressional subpoena, should be upheld. The court directed the Justice Department to submit a separate argument by Monday on why Miers should not be compelled to testify.

The appeals court said Friday it wants to review the issue and hear arguments from the Department of Justice and House lawyers to determine whether the court has the authority to weigh in on the matter.
“The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the motion for stay,” the three-judge panel wrote in their decision Friday.


Read more: http://www.pubrecord.org/law/305-appeals-court-temporarily-blocks-miers-from-testifying-before-congress.html

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WTF?

[texastoast]

15. Routine

The court hasn't reviewed the record yet. Keep us posted.

[fascisthunter]

16. that's good to know