A Senate panel found former presidential advisor Karl Rove and current White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten in contempt of Congress on Thursday for refusing to testify and turn over documents in the investigation of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved contempt citations against Rove and Bolten on a 12-7 vote, rejecting the White House position that their work is covered by executive privilege.

Six months ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee requested Rove’s public testimony on the firings and issued subpoenas for internal White House documents. As custodian of such documents, Bolten was cited for refusing to hand them in.