House Sues Bush Aides Over Subpoenas

Lawmakers sued two top Bush aides today to make them testify about the sacking of federal prosecutors in 2006. The House Judiciary Committee suit seeks to enforce subpoenas against White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers, who have refused to testify or supply subpoenaed papers. "We will not allow the administration to steamroll Congress," one lawmaker said.

The White House dismissed the civil suit—the first such action by lawmakers against the White House in US history—as an exercise in “partisan theater.” The move follows a House vote last month that cited Bolten and Miers for contempt of Congress, which the Justice Department ignored because it had advised them not to testify, the Washington Post reports. (More Michael Mukasey stories.)