Lawmaker to push contempt vote for White House officials

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., on Monday said the committee will vote Wednesday on a motion to cite White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers for contempt of Congress for declining to comply with subpoenas in the investigation of the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.

"I've allowed the White House and Ms. Miers every opportunity to cooperate with this investigation, either voluntarily or under subpoena," Conyers said in a statement. "It is still my hope that they will reconsider this hard-line position, and cooperate with our investigation so that we can get to the bottom of this matter."

President Bush recently decided that Miers' potential testimony was covered by executive privilege and directed her not to testify. Miers subsequently declined to appear for a July 12 hearing. Bush has applied executive privilege to White House documents sought by the panel, and Bolten has refused to turn them over.

The White House has offered Democrats a deal, rejected so far, to provide certain documents and to allow White House officials to speak with lawmakers as long as the aides are not under oath and transcripts are not made.

Responding to Conyers' move Monday, Press Secretary Tony Snow said the faceoff between the administration and Congress was unnecessary and offered the deal again. "We continue to offer a way of accommodation for the House and the Senate," he said.

He called on Democrats to focus on other business, such as appropriations. "It seems now that we have a fishing expedition that is woefully short on fish," Snow said. Snow said a contempt vote by Congress would be sent to the Justice Department, which would then "make a determination on the merits."

The administration contended last week that Congress cannot force the Justice Department to prosecute an official for contempt if the president has employed executive privilege to testimony or documents being sought.