Washington Post: Leahy hints at contempt charge against Bush

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According to the Washington Post, Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says that a contempt charge is not out of the question if the White House refuses to turn over subpoenaed documents.

"If they don't cooperate, yes, I'd go that far," Sen. Leahy said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. "This is very important to the American people."

"Leahy's comments raise the stakes in a growing conflict between the Democrat-controlled Congress and the Bush White House, suggesting the constitutional clash may end up in a court case that could last beyond Bush's tenure as president," Post reporter Lyndsey Layton writes.

"Congressional investigators want testimony, internal e-mails and other documents to clarify what role Bush's senior staff played in the Justice Department's removal of nine prosecutors last year," she adds. "The firings have triggered bipartisan calls for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to resign."

The White House refused last week. In exerting "executive privilege," the Administration asserted the power of the presidency against other branches of government.

Leahy says he may also take the matter to court.

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