U.S. House of Representatives

Thursday, Jul 12, 2007 10:59 EDT

Absolute immunity?

The Justice Department cites separation of powers in a carefully worded document that permits White House staff to ignore congressional subpoenas.

Citing the separation of powers between the executive branch and Congress, an opinion released by the Justice Department says that Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, has absolute immunity from "compulsion to testify" before Congress in the hearings over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. The opinion was written by Steven G. Bradbury, the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel.

Fred Fielding, Miers' successor as White House counsel, requested this opinion from the OLC, which he cited in a letter of his own that directed Miers not to appear in front of a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee despite a subpoena. Claiming that presidential advisors' rights are "derivative of the President's," Bradbury asserts in the opinion that White House officials are entitled to the same independence and autonomy that the executive maintains from Congress. The written opinion makes it unclear whether or not the Justice Department would prosecute White House officials like Miers if Congress voted to hold them in contempt for not cooperating with a subpoena.

Below is the memo, in its entirety.

Primary Sources