House panel cites Rove for contempt

WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- The House Judiciary Committee has voted along party lines to cite former White House adviser Karl Rove with contempt for defying a subpoena.

The 20-14 vote "was an important statement by this Committee that no person -- not even Karl Rove -- is above the law," committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. said in a statement posted on the committee's Web site.

The judiciary panel is investigating the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. Invoking executive privilege, the White House said current and former senior officials couldn't testify before Congress because their testimony could jeopardize confidential communications between the president and his advisers.

Wednesday's committee recommendation to hold Rove in contempt goes to the full House, which voted in February to hold two other former White House officials in contempt in connection with the same inquiry, The New York Times reported Thursday. The House's votes against current Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former counsel Harriet E. Miers were the first contempt of Congress citations issued against the White House since Ronald Reagan was president.

A federal court in Washington ruled Thursday that absolute privilege didn't extend to Bolten or Miers.