Mukasey Shoots Down Pelosi

The big issues for the Democrat led Congress? To investigate steroid use by sports players and to force a contempt citation on the executive branch. Both BIG losers of time, money, and brain cells.

But at least Mukasey didn’t take long:

On Thursday afternoon, Pelosi had asked Mukasey to order an investigation of whether Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about the controversial firings of U.S. attorneys.

In a two-page letter to Pelosi, Mukasey said: “[T]he Department has determined that the noncompliance by Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers with the Judiciary Committee subpoenas did not constitute a crime, and therefore the Department will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers.”

Mukasey had to spell it out like he was speaking to a child….E X E C U T I V E P R I V I L E G E. And she still doesn’t get it.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she intends to sue the Bush administration in response to Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s refusal to refer the House’s contempt citations against two of President Bush’s top aides to a federal grand jury.

Pelosi, in a written statement, accused the administration of “continuing to politicize law enforcement.”

“The House has already provided authority for the Judiciary Committee to file a civil enforcement action in federal district court and the House shall do so promptly,” she said. “As public officials, we take an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect our system of checks and balances and our civil lawsuit seeks to do just that.”

The White House countered with its own pledge to fight House leaders to the end.

“If Speaker Pelosi insists on taking this case to a court, they will be met with opposition at the courthouse door and at every step of any court case,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto said. “The president’s case is strong, and he would not have asserted executive privilege if he did not believe he would prevail in the face of attempts to challenge his decision.”

Steroid use and pushing a losing civil case. Meanwhile FISA is back to the 1978 version which didn’t help in preventing 9/11.

I’m telling ya, only the Democrats man…only the Democrats. It’s times like these I’m reminded of a Mark Twain quote:

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

The sad part in all this is that Pelosi does get it. She gets this is a loser of a case but she also knows she is the puppet who has to do the bidding of those pulling the strings, namely the MoveOn crowd and the rest of the brainless. The same people who still haven’t figured out that this Democrat led Congress has talked a good fight, but lost on every round….they should be so proud.

Mukasey wrote in the letter:

“As you know, the president, asserting executive privilege, directed that Joshua Bolten, chief of staff to the president, and Harriet Miers, the former counsel to the president, not release certain documents or provide related testimony subpoenaed by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

“The president also directed Ms. Miers to invoke her constitutional immunity from compelled congressional testimony and to decline to appear before the committee. These directives were based on legal opinions from the Department of Justice advising that the assertions of privilege and immunity were legally proper. …

“[T]he same principles that preclude prosecuting an executive branch official for abiding by a presidential claim of executive privilege also preclude prosecuting a senior presidential adviser for lawfully invoking her constitutional immunity from compelled congressional testimony.”

I have to say, the speed in which Mukasey swatted her down was good to see. No wishy-washy political crap….just straight to the point…”you have no case.”

Impressive.

Curt

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