WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush ordered former counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional summons, even as a second former aide told a Senate panel Wednesday she knew of no involvement by Bush in the dismissals of eight federal prosecutors. Contempt citations against both women were a possibility.

House Democrats threatened to cite Miers if she refused to appear as subpoenaed for a Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. The White House said she was immune from the subpoena and Bush had directed her not to appear, according to Miers’ lawyer. Democrats said her immunity ended when she left her White House job.

Across the Capitol, meanwhile, former White House political director Sara Taylor found out what Miers may already have known: It’s almost impossible to answer some committee questions but not others without breaching either the subpoena or Bush’s claim of executive privilege.

After first refusing to answer questions about Bush’s possible role in the firings, Taylor later told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she knew of no involvement by the president. Further, she said, she knew of no wrongdoing by administration officials in the controversy that has hobbled the Justice Department and imperiled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

OK, here’s my BIG question: IF there has been no wrongdoing, IF no one has broken the law, IF no political improprieties have taken place, what’s wrong with having the aides testify??

And I realize that this is presumed to be the business of the White House and the AG and all and that the U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the AG and POTUS, but IF nothing has been done wrong, what is Bush hiding?? What is he afraid of?? So much so that he has broken out the ‘executive privilege’ thing??

The developments whipped across Washington as part of a broader dispute over the boundaries of Bush’s executive power and Congress’ oversight duty. Democrats, in control of Congress for the first time in a dozen years, are probing whether the White House ordered the prosecutor firings in ways that might help Republicans in elections.

No matter who’s in control of congress, it’s their job to oversee the actions of the president if I am not mistaken, I believe it’s a part of the checks and balances we learned about in civics class, I’m not a constitutional lawyer and make no claim to be and I’m guessing that if this presumption is wrong, someone will tell me…

The Bush administration acknowledges that the firings were clumsily carried out but insists no wrongdoing occurred. Bush has offered to allow his aides, including counselor Karl Rove, Miers and Taylor, to be interviewed by congressional investigators - but only in private and without a transcript.

Someone really needs to drug test Bush, maybe then we’ll understand his thought process…

Interviewed in private and without a transcript?? C’mon, who in the hell does he think this is fooling?? They’re not sitting around at Country Club over brandy and cigars shooting the bull with ‘the boys’, this is the business of the USA and just offering to allow these interviews to take place in an informal and unrecorded setting throw up a HUGE red flag, at least for me…

This comes down to that same old line that was used when the Bush administration was pushing the Patriot Act on us, “If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear”, might be a good policy to live by Mr. Bush…

Full Story Here:
Bush Orders Miers Not to Testify

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