Congress’ ‘Contemptuous’ Power

by Paul M. Thompson
July 19, 2007

The story goes something like this: A president fires nine U.S. attorneys for purely political reasons. An enraged Congress opens an investigation, eventually subpoenaing the president’s former top aides. The president refuses to comply, instructing his former aides to remain mute. Congress responds, approving a citation to hold the president’s aides in contempt. Then, as if scripted by Kafka himself, the contempt citation lands on the desk of the president’s own political appointee — the U.S. attorney — for enforcement.