Bush Aides Sued Over Lawyer Firings

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee yesterday sued a former White House counsel, Harriet Miers, and the White House chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, setting up a constitutional clash over the Bush administration's refusal to provide testimony and documents about the firing of U.S. attorneys.

The lawsuit says Ms. Miers is not immune from the obligation to testify and that she and Mr. Bolten must identify all documents that are being withheld from Congress regarding what Democrats say were politically motivated dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys.

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, John Conyers, said, "We will not allow the administration to steamroll Congress."

Mr. Conyers, a Democrat of Michigan, said he is confident the federal courts will agree that the Bush administration's position is at odds with constitutional principles.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of President Bush and a former prosecutor in the Whitewater criminal investigation of the Clintons in the 1990s.

The White House said House Democrats "continue to focus on partisan theater."

"The confidentiality that the president receives from his senior advisers and the constitutional principle of separation of powers must be protected from overreaching and we are confident that the courts will agree with us," the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, said.