Michael Isikoff: Congress Could Arrest Harriet Miers

We were talking to Michael Isikoff of Newsweek on Friday's show. He pointed out that Democrats in Congress have more options in the US attorneys scandal than most people realize.

As most people already know, they could hold Harriet Miers, Josh Bolten, Karl Rove and Scott Jennings in contempt of Congress for not testifying about what they know in regards to the US attorney firings. Then they would take it to the courts and wait for the judiciary to resolve executive privilege claims. But that process would drag out for a long time and might not have a practical effect.

But there is another option. They could order the Sergeant at Arms to arrest Harriet Miers and bring her in. I want to be absolutely clear here, Isikoff is a reporter and he is not suggesting that they carry this option out. He is simply pointing out that it is possible.

Here's the relevant part of the transcript:

Michael Isikoff: There is, very quickly, another option. There's something called inherent contempt where they can enforce contempt themselves. They can have the Sergeant at Arms arrest Harriet Miers in the state of Texas and bring her to Washington for trial before the House, and incarcerate her. That's an option that hasn't been used for years. But it is a Constitutional option.

You can listen to this portion of the conversation or the whole interview here.

Now, how fun would this option be? Could anyone accuse the Democrats of not being strong enough if they had Harriet Miers arrested for contempt of Congress? How bad ass would it be to have the Sergeant at Arms handcuff her and bring her in to the Capitol?

Of course, it's really sad that a woman who was nominated to the Supreme Court a short while ago faces such legal trouble now because she and the president have decided that they are above the law and above the Congress. Harriet, please turn yourself in peacefully. Don't make us send the Sergeant at Arms after you.

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