White House to defy order from Congress

WASHINGTON -- The White House has decided to defy Congress in its latest demand for information regarding the dismissal of nine US attorneys, sources familiar with the decision said. Such an action would escalate the constitutional struggle and propel it closer to a court showdown.

Senate and House committees have directed President Bush to provide by today a detailed justification of his executive privilege claims and a full accounting of documents he is withholding. But White House counsel Fred Fielding plans to tell lawmakers that he has provided the legal basis for the claims and will not provide a log of withheld documents, the sources said.

The standoff suggests neither side is prepared to budge in the fight over documents and testimony in the widening US attorney investigation. Officials in both camps said no serious negotiations are taking place to resolve the dispute, while Fielding plans to follow up his letter by further asserting executive privilege later this week, directing former White House aides Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor not to testify in response to congressional subpoenas.

The two sides increasingly believe the matter will lead congressional Democrats to seek criminal contempt citations against the White House. That could result in a protracted court battle over the contours of the president's power to shield White House deliberations. Both sides insist the other's legal position is weak and argue that this could be one of the most important test cases in years.

The impasse is leading to "a monumental clash between the executive and legislative branches of government," Taylor's lawyer, W. Neil Eggleston, wrote in a letter sent Saturday to Fielding and leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "This clash may ultimately be resolved by the judicial branch."

Eggleston wrote that his client has been put unfairly in the middle of "an unseemly tug of war" in which she faces the choice of betraying a president she admires or being sanctioned by the Senate. "Ms. Taylor is willing to testify and should not face personal peril because the White House and the Senate are unable to resolve their dispute," Eggleston said in an interview.

The conflict stems from congressional investigations into the dismissal last year of nine chief federal prosecutors.

The Senate and House judiciary committees issued five subpoenas seeking documents and testimony by Taylor, who until six weeks ago was the White House political director, and Miers, the former White House counsel. Bush asserted executive privilege June 28 in refusing to respond to the subpoenas for documents, and the committees responded by demanding that he provide a legal basis and log.

The log, according to the committees, should describe each document withheld, including its source, subject matter, date, and recipients. White House officials viewed it as a backdoor attempt to get sensitive information about deliberations, the sources said.

The White House in recent days said it has cooperated extensively with congressional investigators and is standing on principle. It also accused Congress of being more interested in investigating than legislating, noting that Democrats have held 600 oversight hearings since taking control of Capitol Hill in January.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said Saturday that withholding the legal basis and log would suggest the White House is trying to cover something up or realizes it does not have a reasonable claim.

Bush has offered to make Miers, Taylor, political strategist Karl Rove, and their aides available for private interview by the House and Senate committees, without transcripts and not under oath.

Leahy and Representative John Conyers, Democrat of Michigan and the House committee chairman, have said the offer is insufficient.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.