The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is giving the Obama administration one week to determine whether to press ahead with President George W. Bush’s claim that his former aides are absolutely immune to congressional subpoenas.
That leaves the Obama administration little time to decide whether to oppose a lower court’s ruling that former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten must show up to congressional hearings investigating the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys before asserting executive privilege. The case also implicates former White House adviser Karl Rove. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., has subpoenad Rove’s testimony in connection with the U.S. Attorney firings and the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
