Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. House Of Representatives v. Mier

558 F. Supp. 2d 53 (2008)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

DOJ requested and received resignations from nine U.S. Attorneys. These forced resignations aroused almost immediate suspicion. P -- a standing Committee of the House of Representatives -- commenced an investigation into the forced resignations in early 2007. P heard the testimony of six of the dismissed U.S. Attorneys during the first hearing held on March 6, 2007. P then wrote to officials at DOJ and the White House requesting that certain individuals, among them Miers (D), be made available for questioning by P. The Executive, made available to Congress a very substantial number of witnesses and documents. The Executive made available thirteen additional Executive Branch witnesses for testimony or interviews, including the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, incumbent, and former Deputy Attorneys General, and serving U.S. Attorneys. DOJ produced to Congress 'over 7,850 pages of documents, including more than 2,200 pages from the Office of the Attorney General and 2,800 pages from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.' DOJ made available another 3,750 pages of documents, bringing the total number of pages produced to Congress to 'nearly 12,000.' After deciding that Miers (D) had played a significant personal role in the termination decision-making, P intensified its efforts to obtain her testimony. She did not respond. After a good deal of back and forth, P issued subpoenas to Ds. The President decided to assert Executive Privilege. The full House of Representatives voted to hold Ds in contempt of Congress on February 14, 2008, by a vote of 223-32. With criminal enforcement of its subpoenas foreclosed, P -- invoking Resolution 980 -- filed this action seeking a declaratory judgment and other injunctive relief. In part Ds claimed immunity.