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D.C. Circuit Grants Stay in White House Subpoena Dispute
Legal Times
October 07, 2008
A federal appeals court Monday announced it will wait -- perhaps until next year -- to hear argument and decide the politically charged White House subpoena dispute between the House Judiciary Committee and top Bush administration aides.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Monday that the court will not expedite the government's appeal of a district court ruling that requires Harriet Miers to respond to a congressional subpoena. The House Judiciary Committee is investigating the U.S. Attorney firings and wants Miers, former White House counsel, to open up about what she knows. Justice Department lawyers say Miers is immune from congressional subpoenas.
Justice lawyers appealed U.S. District Judge John Bates' order to the D.C. Circuit, where Judges Douglas Ginsburg, A. Raymond Randolph and David Tatel heard argument last month on whether to stay the order pending appeal. The court did not hear argument on the merits of the case. Irvin Nathan, representing the Judiciary Committee, urged the appeals court to expedite the case, arguing the dispute is not going to disappear.
The appeals court Monday in a per curiam decision called the balance-of-power dispute one of "potentially great significance." But the controversy, the appellate judges say, will not be fully resolved before the new Congress is seated in January. The subpoena issued to Miers will expire then. "If the case becomes moot, we would be wasting the time of the court and the parties," the appeals court ruled. If the case does not become moot, the court said, there would be no urgent need for an immediate ruling. "This course has the additional benefit of permitting the new President and the new House an opportunity to express their views on the merits of the lawsuit," the court said.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said in a statement that while the "delay caused by this incorrect decision is unfortunate," he expects Miers and other witnesses will appear before the committee.
This article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
