MIERED DOWN IN SUBPEONAS

Subpoenas have been issued today to two former top ranking White House officials today, former chief counsel Harriet Miers, and political director Sarah Taylor on their roles in the firings of eight federal prosecutors in the continuing investigation of Alberto Gonzales. Both Taylor and Miers operated in the role of close advisers to the President, and have inside knowledge of many of the affairs of the current administration.

The Bush administration continues its attempts to both stonewall any investigations by Congress, as well as deny any wrongdoings. They will, of course, deny any subpoenas, as complying with the legal documents would could set a precedent for testimony by another adviser not yet on the subpoena list: presidential counselor Karl Rove. Be assured, that Bush will start WW III before the world hears any secrets Karl Rove is privy to.

White House officials pointed out that White House Counsel Fred Fielding already has offered a compromise by suggesting that Miers, Taylor, Rove and their deputies be interviewed by committee aides in closed-door sessions, without transcripts. Leahy and Conyers have rejected that offer.

The subpoenas came a day after newly released Justice Department documents revealed that Taylor was closely involved in the firings. In a Feb. 16 e-mail, she described a U.S. attorney in Arkansas who was fired last year as "lazy" — "which is why we got rid of him in the first place," according to the documents. Taylor also complained that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty told senators that Cummins was replaced at the urging of Miers, then White House counsel.
Technically, if the showdown between the White House and Congress is not resolved, the matter could end up with House and Senate contempt citations and a session in federal court.
You may remember Ms. Miers was nominated to the Supreme Court by Bush, then took her name out of consideration. Ms. Taylor has been a Bush strategist on campaigns for the president since 1999. Before that, she worked on the 1995-96 presidential campaign of Phil Gramm, another southern "intellectual."