Contempt in Court

On Friday, White House lawyers filed a motion in civil court, arguing against the House's own filing last month in its attempt to enforce subpoenas against Josh Bolten and Harriet Miers. As I reported at the time, the White House appears to be arguing that the courts ought to stay out of the fight and let the House use other means of leverage to get the information it seeks from the executive branch.

the Legislative Branch may vindicate its interests without enlisting judicial support: Congress has a variety of other means by which it can exert pressure on the Executive Branch, such as the withholding of consent for Presidential nominations, reducing Executive Branch appropriations, and the exercise of other powers Congress has under the Constitution.

The entire document runs 83 pages. I'll try to get my hands on a copy, to see what other dubious arguments the administration is making.