Has an administration ever refused to comply with a subpoena?

My history isn't that great and I'm curious to know if there is precedence for WH officials refusing to appear even though they were subpoenaed. If so, what happened to them?

I ask after reading that Harriet Miers refused to appear even though she's been subpoenaed. Condi Rice refused a subpoena, too. This administration is flouting congress and I'm hoping the Dems don't back down.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/BREAKING_Miers_rejects_call_to_appear_0717.html

:kick:

they were always going before congress. Don't think they ever refused.

clinton officials testified under oath under a congressional subpoena.

He wouldn't release "the tapes" initially. I believe they had been called for via subpoena.

In 1796, George Washington refused to give Congress documents about treaty negotiations with England.

Nixon attempted it, but was forced to give up documents as part of a criminal investigation.

The last time the House cited an executive official for contempt was in 1982, when Anne Gorsuch, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, asserted executive privilege and refused to respond to a subpoena from House members investigating the Superfund scandal. A grand jury ultimately declined to intervene in the fight. The White House eventually agreed to provide limited access if Democrats dropped the contempt citation.

This appears to be part of an ongoing legal battle that neither side has managed to totally win. The house has, IMHO, the moral high ground in this instance. The White House is seriously out of line.

However, there is such a thing as "inherent contempt," which is tried before the chamber concerned, and that means that the house could drag her before the chamber. It's not been used for about 70 years, but it is constitutional and has been done before.

From page 34 of http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL31836.pdf :

"The Justice Department occupied an unusual ethical position. First it had advised Gorsuch to withhold the documents, and now it decided not to prosecute her for adhering to the department�s legal analysis. In court, the department argued that the contempt action marked an "unwarranted burden on executive privilege" and an "interference with the executive�s ability to carry out the laws." Counsel for the House of Representatives urged the court not to intervene, requesting it to dismiss the case.222

The court dismissed the government�s suit on the ground that judicial intervention in executive-legislative disputes "should be delayed until all possibilities for settlement have been exhausted."223 The court urged both parties to devote their energies to compromise and cooperation, not confrontation.224 After the court�s decision, which the Justice Department chose not to appeal, the Administration agreed to release "enforcement sensitive" documents to the House Public Works Committees, beginning with briefings and redacted copies and eventually ending with the unredacted documents. The unredacted documents could be examined by committee members and up to two staff persons.225

One of the casualties of the House investigation into the Superfund program was former EPA official Rita M. Lavelle. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to hold her in contempt for defying a committee subpoena to testify.226 The House voted 413 to zero to hold her contempt.227 She was sentenced in 1984 to 6 months in prison, 5 years� probation, and a fine of $10,000 for lying to Congress about her management of the Superfund program. She was the only EPA official indicted in the scandal, but more than 20 other top officials, including Anne Gorsuch, left the EPA amid allegations of perjury, conflict of interest, and political manipulation of the agency.228"

dozens of references in footnotes, at URL

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL31836.pdf :

"Congressional Research Service  The Library of Congress
Report for Congress, Order Code RL31836

Congressional Investigations:
Subpoenas and Contempt Power
April 2, 2003

Louis Fisher
Senior Specialist in Separation of Powers
Government and Finance Division"