US House votes to hold two Bush confidants in contempt

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold a former and a current aide to President George W. Bush in contempt for ignoring orders to testify over the firing of prosecutors.

The Democratic-led House voted 223-32 in favor of issuing citations against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and Bush's former counsel, Harriet Miers, for ignoring subpoenas over the firing of several US attorneys in 2006.

Republicans had walked out of Congress in protest before the vote, saying the priority of the House should be to quickly pass a bill to make a wiretap law permanent.

The vote could trigger a constitutional showdown between Congress and the White House, as Bush has cited "executive privilege" in his refusal to let his aides testify...