Harriet E Miers

The Supreme Court nomination of Harriet E. Miers appeared to gain some ground with Republicans and lose some with Democrats on Tuesday after she turned over to senators a 57-page background questionnaire and 12 boxes of supporting documents.

Harriet E. Miers, a member of a diminishing circle of allies who came to Washington in 2001 with President Bush, is resigning as White House counsel at the end of this month, the White House announced Thursday. The ill-fated nomination of Miers to the Supreme Court, in 2005, left Bush tangled in complaints of cronyism and in dispute with his conservative allies.

House Democrats began laying the groundwork for finding former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers in contempt of Congress on Thursday when, as expected, she failed to appear at a congressional hearing on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year. In a party-line 7-5 vote, a House judiciary subcommittee dismissed claims of executive privilege that Miers invoked through her lawyer in refusing to appear despite a subpoena.

Former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers will continue to refuse to appear before a House committee, her lawyer said Tuesday, despite Democrats' threats to hold her in contempt. "Ms. Miers will not appear before the committee or otherwise produce documents or provide testimony," lawyer George T. Manning said in a letter to the committee. The House Judiciary Committee had given Miers, who defied a subpoena to appear before the committee, until Tuesday to change her mind about testifying.

The House Judiciary Committee said Monday that it would move forward with contempt-of-Congress proceedings against President Bush's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, and former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas pertaining to the probe of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.

A House committee voted Wednesday to endorse the criminal prosecution of President Bush's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, and former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers for refusing to cooperate with a congressional probe into the firings of U.S. attorneys last year. The 22-17 party-line vote of the judiciary committee calling for contempt-of-Congress proceedings against the two aides was referred to the full House for consideration.

The investigation into the firing last year of eight U.S. attorneys could soon be moving from congressional hearing rooms to the courts. Congress is threatening to hold former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers in contempt of Congress for failing to honor a congressional subpoena. Miers, acting on orders from President Bush, cited the doctrine of executive privilege in explaining her decision not to appear before a House panel last week. Congressional leaders have given her until Tuesday to change her mind.

White House chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers asked a federal judge to delay an order to cooperate with Congress while they appeal the ruling. The court filings indicate that Bolten and Miers will continue to resist subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee as the Bush administration heads into its final months. Lawmakers are seeking testimony and documents related to the controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

A federal appeals court rejected House Democrats' demands to force two of President Bush's top aides to cooperate with an investigation about the firings of nine federal prosecutors in 2006. Time will run out on this year's congressional session before the battle between two branches of government can be resolved, according to the ruling by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The ruling blocks a July order by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates to force former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers to testify before the House Judiciary Committee and current White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten to turn over documents.

President Bush on Monday nominated White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers, an old friend and political ally with a distinguished legal resume but no judicial experience, to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Bush's choice of the 60-year-old lawyer perplexed some lawmakers and activists, who complained that her limited record on some of the central legal issues of the day made it difficult to assess her politics and philosophy.