Executive privilege and congressional testimony: Expert available to comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2007

EDITORS: President George Bush directed former White House Counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary Committee hearing today, July 12. Miers refused to testify on the White House's role in the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Former White House political director Sara Taylor testified yesterday, July 11.

Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington Professor Dawn Johnsen, a former acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel under President Bill Clinton, is available to speak about issues of executive privilege as it relates to this situation.

President Bush has not satisfied his constitutional obligation. "Sara Taylor was severely limited in her congressional testimony yesterday by her decision to respect President Bush's assertion of executive privilege, and today Harriet Miers refused even to show up. But the problem ultimately lies with President Bush, not with Taylor and Miers," Johnsen said. "It is the President who owes a constitutional duty to accommodate Congress's legitimate need for executive branch information, while protecting his own legitimate confidentiality needs. Given the inadequacy thus far in what he has offered Congress, President Bush has not satisfied that constitutional obligation."

Johnsen, whose courses include Constitutional Law, the First Amendment, and a Seminar in the Separation of Powers, has testified before Congress, is a frequent speaker at national conferences, and has appeared on many national television and radio news programs. She can be reached at djohnsen@indiana.edu or at 812-856-4984.