Neither Miers nor Bolten agreed to be interviewed by the Justice Department's internal watchdogs.
Bolten and Miers were contacted by Nora Dannehy, a federal prosecutor from Connecticut who was appointed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey to continue the investigation of the U.S Attorney firings, according to people familiar with her probe. It's unknown, however, whether they cooperated or were subpoenaed.
Dannehy is expected to file a preliminary report with the Justice Department in March.
In September 2008, U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected Bush's position, saying the concept of blanket executive privilege lacked legal precedent.
"The Executive cannot identify a single judicial opinion that recognizes absolute immunity for senior presidential advisors in this or any other context," wrote Bates, a Bush appointee. "In fact, there is Supreme Court authority that is all but conclusive on this question and that powerfully suggests that such advisors do not enjoy absolute immunity."
Last October, a Republican-dominated federal Appeals Court panel blocked the enforcement of the Judiciary Committee subpoenas. The panel also refused to expedite consideration of a White House appeal challenging a District Court ruling that had ordered Miers and Bolten to comply. Conyers' committee appealed the decision. The matter has yet to be decided.
In his Fox News interview with Bill O'Reilly, Rove mentioned the Miers and Bolten case currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Rove said Conyers should have waited until the judicial body ruled on the matter before issuing a subpoena for his testimony. Rove then went on to criticize the Michigan Democrat while portraying himself as a victim.
"I don't know if I'd call it a witch hunt; I don't think of myself a witch," Rove told O'Reilly. "He's sort of like Captain Ahab, and I'm the whale."
"This is a guy who went to the cloakroom and asked to 'get his' - and then filled in a crude way to describe my posterior," Rove said. "He could wait until the United States judicial system resolves how this ought to be handled, but instead he wanted to have a stunt, and we'll see what happens."
The Judiciary Committee has been seeking Rove's public testimony about the Siegelman case since April as part of its investigation into allegations that the Bush administration used the Justice Department to prosecute more Democratic public officials than Republicans.
Rep. John Conyers, the Judiciary Committee's chairman, had rebuffed a compromise floated by Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, to have Rove testify in private or respond in writing to the committee's inquiries about the Siegelman case, as well as the firing of nine U.S. Attorneys.
If Rove fails to show up Monday, which is likely the case, the full House will likely vote to hold Rove in contempt, said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, during an interview with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. What would transpire if Rove were held in contempt is that Congress would refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who would then convene a grand jury. Rove could be arrested if he refused to appear before Congress if ordered to do so at that point, Nadler said.
When asked by O'Reilly if he intended to appear before Congress Monday Rove said, "no."
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