Congresswoman Linda Sánchez Applauds U.S. District Court Ruling in Harriet Miers Case
July 31, 2008

Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Linda Sánchez today applauded the ruling by United States District Court Judge John Bates that former White House Counsel Harriet Miers is not immune from a congressional subpoena and is required to appear at a hearing about her role in the U.S. Attorney scandal and the politicization of the Department of Justice.

Congresswoman Linda Sánchez, who chairs the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (CAL), issued the following statement: “The decision is a victory for the strength of our democracy. Miers and all the others who have been subpoenaed, should finally realize that the checks and balances of our American democracy cannot be snubbed. This is a vindication of my rulings that the White House’s Nixonian arguments of executive privilege and immunity are invalid. I look forward to scheduling a hearing with Ms. Miers at the Subcommittee in September.”

The district court decision also rejected arguments by the White House with respect to the subpoenaed documents, and ruled that White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten is required to produce non-privileged documents and specifically describe documents withheld from production based on executive privilege claims.

As chair of the CAL Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Justice Department’s Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, Congresswoman Sánchez, along with Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., led last year’s House investigations into the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys. Those investigations included seven hearings, five of those before the CAL Subcommittee.