Bush Aides Must Testify: Judge

Turning aside White House arguments that top aides are protected from subpoenas by executive privilege, a judge ruled today that Harriet Miers must testify before a congressional committee on the firings of nine federal prosecutors, the Washington Post reports. Miers and fellow aide Joshua Bolten can, however, invoke executive privilege in declining to respond to specific questions.

"The Executive cannot identify a single judicial opinion that recognizes absolute immunity for senior presidential advisors in this or any other context," wrote the judge. "The asserted absolute immunity claim here is entirely unsupported by existing case law." While congressional leaders hailed the decision as a step in getting Karl Rove to comply with his subpoena, the Justice Department is expected to appeal. (More Harriet Miers stories.)