Appeals Court Puts Off White House Aide's Testimony Until Next Congress

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that top White House aides this year do not have to comply with subpoenas from Congress about the government's controversial dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

The three-member U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the White House a stay of a July 31 court ruling requiring presidential chief of staff Josh Bolten to provide documents, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify before lawmakers about the firings, which critics allege were politically motivated.

The appeals court said the Judicial branch was unlikely to resolve the dispute between the Executive and Legislative branches about the scope of executive immunity before the 110th Congress adjourns January 3, 2009. Enforcing the subpoenas, which expire on the same day, would therefore be a "wast[e of] the time of the court and the parties."

The House voted in February to file contempt resolutions against Bolten and Miers. Both officials had cited executive privilege and refused to comply with a subpoena from Democrats to testify and provide documents relating the dismissals.

The House Judiciary panel filed a lawsuit in March in the U.S. District Court in Washington asking the court to enforce the subpoenas, the first suit of its kind from a chamber of Congress against the executive branch.

In July, U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that Bolten and Miers were not immune from the subpoenas. He rejected a motion from the Justice Department a month later seeking a stay of his ruling until an appeal is heard.

The appeals court's decision comes just a week after an 18-month investigation by the Justice Department Inspector General concluded that there is "significant evidence that political partisan considerations were an important factor" in the removal of the attorneys. The Inspector General said the report "is not complete" because of the refusal of former presidential aides to provide to be interviewed as well as the refusal of the White House to provide internal documents.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) is quoted by CNN as calling the latest court ruling "an incorrect decision."

"I believe Judge Bates' decision will be affirmed... we will get to the bottom of the Bush administration's disgraceful politicization of the Justice Department," he also said.