House votes to hold Bush aides in contempt

President George W. Bush (R) smiles as he walks with White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten from the Oval Office in Washington August 9, 2007. The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pursue legal action against Bolten and a former White House aide for refusing to cooperate in a probe of the firing of nine U.S. prosecutors.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pursue legal action against a current and a former White House aide for refusing to cooperate in a probe of the firing of nine U.S. prosecutors.

On a mostly party-line vote, the House hold President George W. Bush's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and his former counselor, Harriet Miers, in contempt of Congress for failing to produce testimony or documents as ordered by subpoenas last year.

In doing so, the House also authorized its Judiciary Committee to go to court to file suit to enforce the subpoenas. U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has said he will not prosecute Bolten or Miers for respecting a claim by Bush that the two are protected by executive privilege.

The vote was 223-32, with most of Bush's fellow Republicans abstaining and House Minority Leader John Boehner accusing Democrats of a "partisan political stunt."

But Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, said, "This is not a confrontation we have sought, and is one we are still hoping to avoid."

The White House accused Democrats of playing election-year politics. It said they should focus on other matters, such as a stalled bid to replace a spy law set to expire on Saturday.

"On a day that House leaders are trying to put off passing critical legislation to keep us safer from the threat of foreign terrorists overseas, they are spending scarce time to become the first Congress in history to bring contempt charges against a president's chief of staff and lawyer," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

It is unclear how far Democrats would get in any court case. In fact, they may likely fail to get a ruling before Bush's term ends in January 2009.

The case turns on a Democratic investigation into the firing by then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of nine of the 93 U.S. attorneys.

Gonzales denied any wrongdoing, but resigned under pressure.

Despite administration claims to the contrary, critics charged the prosecutors were fired for political reasons, even to influence politically charged investigations.

(Editing by Lori Santos and Stuart Grudgings)