|
 Joshua
B Bolten
JOSHUA BOLTEN News:
20080311
-
Joshua
B Bolten
-
 Harriet
E Miers
-  Michael
B Mukasey
-  US
Attorneys -  Politics
-  Investigation
-  Lawsuit
-  Federal
-  Texas
-  Mich
-  Calif
- "House
Panel Sues to Force Bush Aides to Table: Bolten and
Miers Ignored Subpoenas In Prosecutor Probe." ... "The House Judiciary
Committee filed a lawsuit yesterday to enforce subpoenas against [Republican]
President Bush's chief of staff and his former counsel in a probe of suspected
White House involvement in the 2006 firings of nine federal prosecutors."
... "The panel filed the federal court suit against Joshua B. Bolten, White
House chief of staff since April 2006, and Harriet E. Miers, a close associate
of Bush's from Texas who resigned as White House counsel in January 2007
after a little more than two years on the job." ... "The lawsuit charges
that Bolten and Miers, who were cited by the House for contempt of Congress
last month, defied committee subpoenas by refusing to testify or provide
documents demanded by the panel." ... "But Attorney General Michael B.
Mukasey said White House aides involved in the case cannot be prosecuted
because they were following legal advice from the Justice Department. He
refused to refer the contempt citation to a grand jury." ... "The refusal
of Bolten and Miers to comply with the subpoenas "did not constitute a
crime," Mukasey said in a Feb. 29 letter to [California Democratic Representative
and] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)." ... "[Michigan Democratic
Representative] Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the Judiciary Committee
chairman, described Mukasey's refusal as "contrary to federal law" and
said the panel filed the civil lawsuit to enforce the subpoenas." ... "According
to the lawsuit, the committee launched its investigation in part to "examine
allegations of malfeasance, abuse of authority and violations of existing
laws by Executive Branch personnel."" ... "It says the year-long investigation
"has uncovered substantial evidence" that the Bush administration and Justice
Department "injected partisan considerations into the forced resignations
or retention of U.S. attorneys."" ... "It cites "credible evidence" that
U.S. attorneys who "failed to return desired indictments or failed to bring
voter fraud prosecutions that were considered politically useful to the
administration were forced to resign," as were those who "prosecuted officeholders
allied with the administration."" -By William Branigin
-WashingtonPost
20080214
-
Josh
Bolten
- Harriet
Miers
- US
Attorneys - Politics
- Investigation
- California
- Michigan
- "House
finds Bolten, Miers in contempt of Congress." ...
"The House voted Thursday to hold [Republican President Bush's] White House
Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers
in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a panel investigating
the firing of several United States attorneys." ... "The matter will now
be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia." ... "If
the fight comes to a head without a compromise having been reached, it
could pit Congress’s power to hold White officials in contempt against
the president’s right to assert executive privilege." ... "[California
Democratic Representative and Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi, who stated
that she “had hoped that this day would never have come,” added that, if
White House officials instruct Department of Justice attorneys not to prosecute
the contempt citations, “we will have power to go to federal court and
seek civil enforcement of our subpoenas.”" ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative
and Judiciary Committee Chairman John] Conyers said he had already discovered
“plenty of evidence of wrongdoing at the Department of Justice. He said
officials made the decision to fire attorneys on the basis of whether they
had pursued public corruption charges against Democratic government officials.
He also said that Justice officials made misleading statements to investigators
minimizing the apparent involvement of White House personnel in the firings."
-By Alexander Bolton and Klaus Marre
-TheHill.com
20071129
-
 Karl
Rove
- Joshua
Bolten
-  Sara
Taylor
- Harriet
Miers
- J
Scott Jennings -  US
Attorneys - Politics
-  VT
- "Leahy
Rejects Bush Privilege Claim." ... "A Senate chairman
said Thursday that [Republican] President Bush was not involved in the
firings of U.S. attorneys last winter, and he therefore ruled illegal the
president's executive privilege claims protecting his chief of staff, Josh
Bolten, and former adviser Karl Rove." ... "Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman [Vermont Democratic Senator] Patrick Leahy directed Bolten, Rove,
former White House political director Sara Taylor and her deputy, J. Scott
Jennings, to comply "immediately" with their subpoenas for documents and
information about the White House's role in the firings of U.S. attorneys."
... "The ruling is a formality that clears the way for Leahy's panel to
vote on whether to advance the citations to the full Senate." ... "House
leaders also have filed a contempt citation in their chamber against Bolten
and former [Republican President] White House Counsel Harriet Miers, but
no floor vote has been scheduled." -By Laurie Kellman
-AP via -SFGate.com
20070726
-
Harriet
E Miers
- Joshua
Bolten
- US
Attorneys - Politics
-
 Environmental
-  History
- "House
panel OKs contempt proceedings: Along party lines,
the House judiciary committee votes to begin criminal prosecution of current
and former Bush aides." ... "A House committee voted Wednesday to endorse
the criminal prosecution of [Republican] President Bush's chief of staff,
Joshua Bolten, and former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers for refusing
to cooperate with a congressional probe into the firings of U.S. attorneys
last year." ... "The 22-17 party-line vote of the judiciary committee calling
for contempt-of-Congress proceedings against the two aides was referred
to the full House for consideration. That vote is expected to occur after
Labor Day, when Congress returns from its August recess." ... "The panel's
move escalates a growing legal and political battle between Congress and
the White House, and sets the stage for what would be the first congressional
contempt citation of an executive branch official since the [Republican
President] Reagan administration." ... "It has been 24 years since an administration
official has been cited for contempt of Congress. In 1982, Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch Burford refused to turn
over documents under orders from President Reagan. The Justice Department
refused to prosecute her. A year later, another EPA official, Rita Lavelle,
refused to appear before a House committee. Lavelle was acquitted of the
contempt charge but was later convicted of perjury in another trial." -By
Richard B. Schmitt -LAtimes
20070725
-
Harriet
Miers
- Joshua
B Bolten
-
 Alberto
Gonzales - Karl
Rove
- Government
-  Employees
- US
Attorneys - Presidential
Records - 2004
- Election
- Law
- Politics
- "Report
Suggests Laws Broken in Attorney Firings." ... "House
Democrats, preparing for a vote today on contempt citations against [Republican]
President Bush's chief of staff [Joshua B Bolten] and former counsel [Harriet
E Miers], produced a report [memorandum
PDF] yesterday that for the first time alleges specific ways that several
administration officials may have broken the law during the multiple firings
of U.S. attorneys." ... "The report says that Congress's seven-month investigation
into the firings raises "serious concerns" that senior White House and
Justice Department aides involved in the removal of nine U.S. attorneys
last year may have obstructed justice and violated federal statutes that
protect civil service employees, prohibit political retaliation against
government officials and cover presidential records." ... "The memorandum
says the probe has turned up evidence that some of the U.S. attorneys were
improperly selected for firing because of their handling of vote fraud
allegations, public corruption cases or other cases that could affect close
elections. It also says that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and senior
Justice aides "appear to have made false or misleading statements to Congress,
many of which sought to minimize the role of White House personnel."" ...
"In addition, the memorandum asserts repeatedly that the president's top
political adviser, Karl Rove, was the first administration official to
broach the idea of firing U.S. attorneys shortly after the 2004 election
-- an assertion the White House has said is not true." -By
Amy Goldstein -WashingtonPost
20070720
-
Harriet
Miers
- US
Attorneys - Political
- Government
- Law
-
 Nev
- "Broader
Privilege Claimed In Firings: White House Says Hill
Can't Pursue Contempt Cases." ... "[Republican President] Bush administration
officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday
in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the
Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated
by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked
executive privilege." ... "The position presents serious legal and political
obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork
for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials
in order to pry loose information about the dismissals." ... "Under federal
law, a statutory contempt citation by the House or Senate must be submitted
to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, "whose duty it shall
be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action."" ... "But
administration officials argued yesterday that Congress has no power to
force a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges in cases, such as the
prosecutor firings, in which the president has declared that testimony
or documents are protected from release by executive privilege. Officials
pointed to a Justice Department legal opinion during the Reagan administration,
which made the same argument in a case that was never resolved by the courts."
... "Yesterday, a House Judiciary subcommittee voted to lay the groundwork
for contempt proceedings against White House chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten,
following a similar decision last week against former White House counsel
Harriet E. Miers." ... "Senate Majority Leader [Nevada Democratic Senator]
Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called it "an outrageous abuse of executive privilege"
and said: "The White House must stop stonewalling and start being accountable
to Congress and the American people. No one, including the president, is
above the law."" (1, 2)
-By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein with contributions
by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost
20070624
-
 Dick
Cheney- Government
- Secrets
-  Military
-  Terrorism
- Law
- Politics
-  Intelligence
- "'A
Different Understanding With the President'." ...
"In roles that have gone largely undetected, Cheney has served as gatekeeper
for Supreme Court nominees, referee of Cabinet turf disputes, arbiter of
budget appeals, editor of tax proposals and regulator in chief of water
flows in his native West." ... "The vice president's reputation and, some
say, his influence, have suffered in the past year and a half. Cheney lost
his closest aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to a perjury conviction, and
his onetime mentor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, in a Cabinet purge. A shooting
accident in Texas, and increasing gaps between his rhetoric and events
in Iraq, have exposed him to ridicule and approval ratings in the teens."
... "Waxing or waning, Cheney holds his purchase on an unrivaled portfolio
across the executive branch." ... "Cheney preferred, and Bush approved,
a mandate that gave him access to "every table and every meeting," making
his voice heard in "whatever area the vice president feels he wants to
be active in," Bolten said." ... "Other recent vice presidents have enjoyed
a standing invitation to join the president at "policy time." But Cheney's
interventions have also come in the president's absence, at Cabinet and
sub-Cabinet levels where his predecessors were seldom seen. He found pressure
points and changed the course of events by "reaching down," a phrase that
recurs often in interviews with current and former aides." ... "Stealth
is among Cheney's most effective tools. Man-size Mosler safes, used elsewhere
in government for classified secrets, store the workaday business of the
office of the vice president. Even talking points for reporters are sometimes
stamped "Treated As: Top Secret/SCI." Experts in and out of government
said Cheney's office appears to have invented that designation, which alludes
to "sensitive compartmented information," the most closely guarded category
of government secrets. By adding the words "treated as," they said, Cheney
seeks to protect unclassified work as though its disclosure would cause
"exceptionally grave damage to national security."" ... "Across the board,
the vice president's office goes to unusual lengths to avoid transparency.
Cheney declines to disclose the names or even the size of his staff, generally
releases no public calendar and ordered the Secret Service to destroy his
visitor logs. His general counsel has asserted that "the vice presidency
is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a
part of the legislative branch," and is therefore exempt from rules governing
either. Cheney is refusing to observe an executive order on the handling
of national security secrets, and he proposed to abolish a federal office
that insisted on auditing his compliance." ... "More than any one man in
the months to come, Cheney freed Bush to fight the "war on terror" as he
saw fit, animated by their shared belief that al-Qaeda's destruction would
require what the vice president called "robust interrogation" to extract
intelligence from captured suspects. With a small coterie of allies, Cheney
supplied the rationale and political muscle to drive far-reaching legal
changes through the White House, the Justice Department and the Pentagon."
... "The way he did it -- adhering steadfastly to principle, freezing out
dissent and discounting the risks of blow-back -- turned tactical victory
into strategic defeat. By late last year, the Supreme Court had dealt three
consecutive rebuffs to his claim of nearly unchecked authority for the
commander in chief, setting precedents that will bind Bush's successors."
... "Yet even as Bush was forced into public retreats, an examination of
subsequent events suggests that Cheney has quietly held his ground. Most
of his operational agenda, in practice if not in principle, remains in
place." -By Barton
Gellman and Jo
Becker -WashingtonPost
|
|
Joshua Bolten News Sources:
Search Joshua Bolten News:
News
Search
<Joshua
Bolten>
in:
<AllTheWeb-[News]>
<AltaVista-[News]>
<Google-[News]>
<MSN-[News]>
Specialty search:
<Google's
U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>
Search:
<Joshua
Bolten News>
in:
<Google>
<MSN>
<Yahoo>
|
