Imbalance of Powers

US Attorney General Mike Mukasey has, not surprisingly, refused to enforce two congressional subpoenas, or the contempt citations that followed (due to the failure by two Bush administration member's to comply).

The problem here is this: you may have done nothing wrong, but you still have to show up for court. You can plead the 5^th or shout "Executive Privilege" all you want once you are there, but you’re not allowed to simply refuse to show up. To claim that executive privilege means the President or his staff don't need to even bother to appear before the congress is to suggest that the legislative branch has no power over the executive.

The obvious logic problem there is that Mukasey is refusing to investigate whether a crime occurred, and refusing to help the congress investigate whether a crime occurred, because Bush told him that everything that happened was lawful. Using an only slightly modified Nixonian logic, Mukasey is claiming: “If the President does it in order to fulfill his obligation to protect the nation, then it’s legal.” Bush has often publicly confused his oath of office in this way numerous times now - forgetting that his oath is to uphold the constitution.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/01contempt.html?_r=2&sq=attorney%20general&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&scp=7&adxnnlx=1204518210-qAPkoVmjWyMnlVuTb5Gvpg&oref=slogin

re-posted for those who don't have NYTimes accounts. Sorry for the copyright violation, full attribution provided:

No Investigation of 2 Bush Aides

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 1, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey on Friday rejected referring the House’s contempt citations against President Bush’s chief of staff and former counsel to a federal grand jury. Mr. Mukasey said they had committed no crime.

Mr. Mukasey said the chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, and the former counsel, Harriet E. Miers, were right in refusing to provide Congress with White House documents or to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors.

“The department will not bring the Congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers,” Mr. Mukasey wrote to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

The House voted two weeks ago to cite Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers for contempt and to seek a grand jury investigation.

Ms. Pelosi requested the grand jury investigation on Thursday. She said the House would file a civil suit seeking enforcement of the contempt citations if federal prosecutors declined to seek misdemeanor charges against Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers.