Privileged president

Politics | Congressional showdown over executive power could force Bush to choose what deserves protecting | Mark Bergin

The name Harriet Miers appeared before a House Judiciary subcommittee July 12, printed neatly on a folded paper placard that rested conspicuously on an unoccupied desk. The person Harriet Miers never showed.

Democrats on the subcommittee fumed over the former White House aide's failure to honor their subpoena for testimony in an ongoing investigation into last year's firings of nine U.S. attorneys: "I can't fathom a private citizen getting a subpoena to come before this body and not showing up," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "What we've got here is an empty chair. I mean, that is as contemptuous as anybody can be of the government, of the process, of the country."

But Miers was simply following direct orders from President George W. Bush, who has invoked executive privilege to prevent public testimony from his aides and to block the release of Republican National Committee email accounts used by chief advisor Karl Rove and other White House officials. Bush has suggested that Congress meet privately for non-transcribed interviews with members of his staff. Ranking Democrats have hotly rejected that offer.