Contempt vote Wednesday in attorney firing

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- A U.S. House committee will vote on holding White House officials in contempt for failing to answer subpoenas about the firing of federal prosecutors.

The House Judiciary Committee announced the vote would proceed Wednesday, although Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said there was still time for the Bush administration to re-consider its stance.

"It is still my hope that they will reconsider this hard-line position, and cooperate with our investigation so that we can get to the bottom of this matter," Conyers said Monday.

The Washington Post said the committee would likely focus Wednesday on former White House lawyer Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten.

The White House has maintained that the details of the decision to replace a slate of U.S. attorneys came under the auspices of executive privilege and need not be shared with Congress.

At the daily press briefing Monday, White House spokesman Tony Snow called the investigation "a fishing expedition that's woefully short on fish." He said the administration is willing to provide Congress whatever information it needs, but will not subject its personnel to testifying under oath or allow transcripts.