



Republicans sanction criminal activity by Bush cronies February 14, 2008 The Republican minority in the House Thursday threw a hissy-fit after the Democratic-led House voted to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House lawyer Harriet Miers in contempt in its probe of the illegal 2006 firings of U.S. attorneys. The chamber's Republican minority demanded the Democratic leadership vote instead on a revision of federal surveillance laws to give immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government . And Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Congress has a right to hear from White House officials about the shakeup, which the Justice Department struggled to explain after it became public. "There was plenty of evidence in our report that showed and suggested there had been many lines crossed between appropriateness and inappropriateness, legality and illegality, and perhaps constitutional violations as well," Conyers said. Miers and Bolten had refused to testify in the probe, which stemmed from the Justice Department's dismissals of federal prosecutors in eight cities. President Bush has invoked a blanket executive privilege covering the testimony of all former and current White House officials and documents subpoenaed by Congress on the controversial firings, which the Justice Department struggled to explain after they became public. The measure authorizes the House Judiciary Committee to go to court to enforce the subpoenas issued to Miers and Bolten. © By Dennis Zaki - AlaskaReport.com All Rights Reserved. Related story White House can't get its lies straight



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