Left In Lowell

Well, we have our first major refusal by a high-level Bushie to a Congressional subpoena (Condi). As many have noted, the recourse via the courts to force testimony under that subpoena goes to the US District Attorney for D.C. Those same US Attorneys which, if you’ve been following national news, appear to have their independence compromised.

Dkos’ Kagro X notes that there is another, non-executive-branch option (quote via the Congressional Research Service’s “Congressional Oversight Manual” (PDF):

Under the inherent contempt power, the individual is brought before the House or Senate by the Sergeant-at-Arms, tried at the bar of the body, and can be imprisoned. The purpose of the imprisonment or other sanction may be either punitive or coercive. Thus, the witness can be imprisoned for a specified period of time as punishment, or for an indefinite period (but not, at least in the case of the House, beyond the adjournment of a session of the Congress) until he agrees to comply. The inherent contempt power has been recognized by the Supreme Court as inextricably related to Congress’s constitutionally-based power to investigate.

But in a new post, Kagro also says it’s up to us to educate our US Rep and Senators, because they don’t appear to have known about this statute:

Does your delegation know what inherent contempt is?
by Kagro X
Sun Apr 29, 2007 at 09:56:53 AM PDT

That’s a serious question. And it’s not meant to impugn anyone’s intelligence or integrity. The plain fact is that sometimes, you’d be surprised what you know about that your Represenative or your Senators don’t. To be sure, they’ll sometimes amaze you with their knowledge of legislative arcana. But the truth is that the schedule of a legislator is tight, and casual perusal of the blogs just isn’t something they often have time for. Which means that if you’ve been reading (here or elsewhere) about the looming crisis in enforcement of the Congressional subpoena power, and have thereby gained an understanding of the “inherent contempt” process, you may actually know considerably more about it than your representatives in Congress.
[…]
There have got to be more Members who know about the process that we just haven’t heard from yet. But so far, the only Member of Congress I know who’s been thinking anything other than “we’ll take ‘em to court” when the Bush “administration” defies Congressional subpoenas is Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina. As chairman of the Investigations and Oversight subcommittee of the Science and Technology panel, he’s run into “administration” intransigence that’s just as brazen and stunning as any of the high-profile situations we’re witnessing at Judiciary and Government Oversight, but without the “sexiness” of involving the “A-list” cabinet members. He’s been working quietly, behind the scenes to make his colleagues aware of his read on the situation, but it’s an uphill battle. Everyone’s busy, and everyone’s freaking out. But not everyone is convinced, as both of us are, that the courts are not likely to clarify the situation for us, at least not in time to actually do anything about it.
[…]
So, what to do? I’m inclined to go with the old stand-by: write your Members of Congress. Study up a bit on what happens when the subpoenas are defied. Learn about inherent contempt. Then drop a friendly line to your Members of Congress, expressing your support for the investigations the Congress is conducting, and urging them to think ahead and game out the “administration’s” refusal to acknowledge the legislature’s power as a co-equal branch. Let them know that when push comes to shove, you’d support enforcing that power through the inherent contempt procedure, and ask them if they’re aware of it.

Meehan is on a couple of the oversight committees Kagro lists. Let’s be sure that before he goes, he understands (and informs the other members) about inherent contempt and that if it comes to it, we need them to use the means at their disposal to get the testimony of those members of the Bush administration that have refused subpoenas.