This is breaking news on msnbc.com. There is no article yet, but when there is, I'll include it and excerpts.
Maybe we'll see Karl Rove frog marched after all!!!
UPDATE 1: OK.. hat tip to ReEnergizer with the link!
U.S. District Judge John Bates has said that Bush's aides, including Harriet Miers and Josh Bolton are not immune... well... hell, let him say it!
"Harriet Miers is not immune from compelled congressional process; she is legally required to testify pursuant to a duly issued congressional subpoena," Bates wrote.
The Justice Department can appeal the decision and, of course, they will. Mukasey will finally get off his ass and do something about this case, although it will be to continue to subvert justice and protect these criminals.
I'm getting ahead of myself thinking about Karl Rove. The full Congress hasn't even voted yet on whether he should be held in contempt. We may need to pressure Nancy Pelosi to bring it up for a vote before the fall. But, this decision today is a start in making it all happen!!
UPDATE 2: From MSNBC story, this line:
U.S. District Judge John Bates said there's no legal support for that stance. He refused to throw out the case and said the aides can be subpoenaed.
I'm no legal expert, but I like the phrase "there's no legal support for that stance." Does that mean on appeal, the Bush administration will actually have to prove there is "legal support for that stance"??
UPDATE 3: Hell... if you liked that last quote, check out this blurb from the latest AP update.
Bates, who was appointed to the bench by Bush, issued a 93-page opinion that strongly rejected the administration's legal arguments. He noted that the executive branch could not point to a single case in which courts held that White House aides were immune from congressional subpoenas.
"That simple yet critical fact bears repeating: the asserted absolute immunity claim here is entirely unsupported by existing case law," Bates wrote.
As kimoconnor notes in the comments below, Judge Bates is the guy who
- wrote the decision that allowed the Bush administration to refuse to release documents on their illegal wiretapping program
- ruled that Dick Cheney did not need to turn over notes and attendees from his energy task force meetings
- ruled against Valerie Plame
In other words... he's not one them damned librul, activist judges!