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{{Short description|American lawyer and Supreme Court nominee}} | |||
{{Infobox US Cabinet official | |||
{{Infobox officeholder | |||
| name=Harriet Miers | |||
| name = Harriet Miers | |||
| image=HarrietMiers.jpg | |||
| image = HarrietMiersFlagpin.jpg | |||
| image_width= | |||
| office = ] | |||
| order=31st | |||
| president = ] | |||
| title=] | |||
| term_start= |
| term_start = February 3, 2005 | ||
| term_end= |
| term_end = January 31, 2007 | ||
| predecessor=] | | predecessor = ] | ||
| successor=] | | successor = ] | ||
| office1 = ] | |||
| president=] | |||
| president1 = ] | |||
| order2= | |||
| term_start1 = June 6, 2003 | |||
| title2= | |||
| term_end1 = February 3, 2005 | |||
| term_start2= | |||
| predecessor1 = ] | |||
| term_end2= | |||
| successor1 = ] | |||
| president2= | |||
| office2 = ] | |||
| predecessor2= | |||
| president2 = ] | |||
| successor2= | |||
| term_start2 = January 20, 2001 | |||
| order3= | |||
| term_end2 = June 6, 2003 | |||
| title3= | |||
| predecessor2 = Lisel Loy | |||
| term_start3= | |||
| successor2 = ] | |||
| term_end3= | |||
| office3 = Chair of Texas Lottery Commission | |||
| president3= | |||
| term_start3 = 1995 | |||
| predecessor3= | |||
| term_end3 = 2000 | |||
| successor3= | |||
| office4 = Member-at-Large ] | |||
| order4= | |||
| term_start4 = 1989 | |||
| title4= | |||
| term_end4 = 1991 | |||
| term_start4= | |||
| birth_name = Harriet Ellan Miers | |||
| term_end4= | |||
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|8|10}} | |||
| president4= | |||
| birth_place = ], ], U.S. | |||
| predecessor4= | |||
| death_date = | |||
| successor4= | |||
| death_place = | |||
| birth_date= {{birth date and age|1945|08|10}} | |||
| party = ] | |||
| birth_place=] | |||
| education = ] (], ]) | |||
| death_date= | |||
| caption = Official portrait, 2005 | |||
| death_place= | |||
| party=] | |||
| spouse= | |||
| profession=] | |||
| footnotes= | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Harriet Ellan Miers''' (born August 10, 1945) is an American lawyer who served as ] to President ] from 2005 to 2007. A member of the ] since 1988, she previously served as ] from 2001 to 2003 and ] for Policy from 2003 until 2005. In 2005, Miers was nominated by Bush to be an ] to replace retiring Justice ], but—in the face of bipartisan opposition—asked Bush to withdraw her nomination a little over three weeks after it was announced. In 2007, Miers returned to private practice, becoming a partner in the litigation and public policy group at ]. | |||
'''Harriet Ellan Miers''' (born ], ]) is an ] ], and former ]. On ], ], she submitted her resignation from the position of ], effective January 31.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6232291.stm|title=Bush's top lawyer Miers resigns|publisher=]|date=2007-01-04|accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref> | |||
President ] nominated her on ], ] for ] of the ] to replace Justice ]. The nomination was met with opposition from conservative groups and others unhappy with her credentials, and on ], President Bush withdrew her nomination, saying Miers had asked him to do so. | |||
==Early life and education== | ==Early life and education== | ||
Miers was born in ] |
Miers was born in ] and spent most of her life there until she moved to ], (2001) to work in the ]. She has described herself as a "Texan through and through."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/usa/story/0,12271,1584254,00.html|work=The Guardian|title=Bush offers crucial supreme court seat to his former lawyer|date=October 4, 2005|access-date=2007-01-04|location=London|first=Julian|last=Borger}}</ref> She is the fourth of the five children of ] ] Harris Wood Miers Sr., and his wife, the former Erma (Sally) Grace Richardson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wargs.com/other/miers.html|title=Ancestry of Harriet Miers|author=Robert Battle|publisher=William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services|access-date=2008-07-28}}</ref> Miers graduated from ] in Dallas in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4962505|title=Miers' Texas Past and Controversy Today|last=Goodwyn|first=Wade|work=All Things Considered|publisher=NPR|date=October 17, 2005|accessdate=February 26, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023103345/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4962505|archivedate=October 23, 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
Miers entered ] intending to become a teacher. The economic plight of her family was so dire that she almost dropped out in her freshman year, but she was able to find part-time work that put her through college. Then her father had a debilitating ]. When a lawyer helped organize her family's financial situation, Miers was inspired to enter law school |
Miers entered ] intending to become a ]. The economic plight of her family was so dire that she almost dropped out in her freshman year, but she was able to find part-time work that put her through college. Then, her father had a debilitating ]. When a lawyer helped organize her family's financial situation, Miers was inspired to enter law school.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/politics/politicsspecial1/miers-known-as-a-hardworking-advocate-for-the-president.html|title=Miers Known as a Hard-Working Advocate for the President|work=The New York Times|author=Todd S. Purdum and Neil A. Lewis|date=October 4, 2005|access-date=February 26, 2022|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060331221938/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2005/10/04/politics/politicsspecial1/04miers.html?ei=5090&en=8633b32cec749877&ex=1286078400&pagewanted=all|archivedate=March 31, 2006}}</ref> In 1967, Miers graduated from ] with a ] in ]. In 1970, she graduated from its ] with a ] degree (1970).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/SupremeCourt/story?id=1170572&page=1|title=Who is Harriet Miers|date=2005-10-27|publisher=]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215122342/http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=1170572|archivedate=December 15, 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
==Career== | ==Career== | ||
In the summer of 1969, between her second and third years of law school, Miers worked as a clerk for Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff, the San Francisco law firm founded by |
In the summer of 1969, between her second and third years of law school, Miers worked as a clerk for Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff, the San Francisco law firm founded by ]. Miers was immersed in ] law. Her supervisor was Robert Lieff, then a partner in the Belli firm and later a founder of the nationally prominent plaintiffs' law firm ]. In a 2005 interview with the ], Lieff stated that Miers "saw what we did for people who needed to get a lawyer and were only able to get a lawyer by a ]."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/05/MNGB5F2MRV1.DTL |title=Miers interned with Melvin Belli but returned to Dallas |author=Bob Egelko |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=October 5, 2005 |access-date=February 26, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810084919/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/05/MNGB5F2MRV1.DTL|archive-date=August 10, 2007}}</ref> | ||
After graduating from law school, from 1970 to 1972 |
After graduating from law school, from 1970 to 1972 Miers was a ] for the Chief Judge of the ], ].<ref name="CNN fast facts">{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/19/us/harriet-miers-fast-facts/|title=Harriet Miers Fast Facts|first=CNN|last=Library|website=]|date= September 19, 2013|accessdate=February 26, 2022}}</ref> She was admitted to the ] in 1970 and admitted to the DC bar in 1997. | ||
In the late 1990s, while Miers was on the advisory board for Southern Methodist University's law school, she helped create and fund a Women's Studies lecture series named after pioneering Texas lawyer ], who was a mentor to Miers.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216060001/http://chronicle.com/free/2005/10/2005100602n.htm|archivedate=February 16, 2006|title=Supreme Court Nominee Helped Set Up Lecture Series That Brought Leading Feminists to Southern Methodist U.|url=http://chronicle.com/free/2005/10/2005100602n.htm|last=Schmidt|first=Peter|work=Chronicle of Higher Education|date=October 6, 2005|accessdate=February 26, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> Raggio, who died in 2011, knew Miers for nearly 40 years, since Miers was a student at Southern Methodist University. Miers was one class behind Raggio's son at SMU, and Raggio became a mentor for Miers; years later she served as a close advisor to Miers during the Texas Bar race. "I was interested in having a woman president," Raggio says. "She was an electable woman, a woman with a big firm behind her. Women's groups supported her because they wanted to show that a woman would be a competent president.".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/10/19/miers_abortion/index.html|title=Will Miers help topple Roe v. Wade?|work=Salon.com|date=October 19, 2005|access-date=2007-01-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509113912/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/10/19/miers_abortion/index.html|archive-date=May 9, 2007}}</ref> | |||
In 1979, after she made partner in her law firm, she became an evangelical Christian after having had a series of long discussions with ], her close friend and colleague at the firm. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/05/MNGB5F2N671.DTL|title=A BORN-AGAIN NOMINEE|author=Ed Wyatt and Simone Romero of the ]|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
From 1972 until 2001 Miers worked for the Dallas law firm of ] (and predecessor firms before mergers). She was the first female lawyer hired by the firm and later became its president. When the merger that created Locke, Liddell & Sapp took place in 1999, she became the co-managing partner of a legal business with more than 400 lawyers. In 2000 the firm settled a lawsuit for $22 million that accused the firm of having "aided a client in defrauding investors".<ref name="bankrupt.com">{{cite journal|url=http://bankrupt.com/CAR_Public/000501.MBX|publisher=InterNet Bankruptcy Library|title=LOCKE LIDDELL: $ 22 Mil Settlement Serves as Warning to Other Law Firms|journal=Class Action Reporter|volume=2|issue=83|date=May 1, 2000|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818031647/http://bankrupt.com/CAR_Public/000501.MBX|archivedate=August 18, 2000|url-status=dead|accessdate=February 26, 2022}}</ref> According to the ''Class Action Reporter'', Miers "said the firm denies liability in connection with its representation of Erxleben. 'Obviously, we evaluated that this was the right time to settle and to resolve this matter and that it was in the best interest of the firm to do so,' Miers said."<ref name="bankrupt.com"/> | |||
In the late 1990s, while Miers was on the advisory board for Southern Methodist University's law school, she helped create and fund a Women's Studies lecture series named after pioneering Texas lawyer, Louise B. Raggio, who was a mentor to Miers (see )<ref>"Raggio, now 83, has known Miers for nearly 40 years, since Miers was a student at Southern Methodist University. Miers was one class behind Raggio's son at SMU, and Raggio became a mentor for Miers; years later she served as a close advisor to Miers during the Texas Bar race. 'I was interested in having a woman president,' Raggio says. 'She was an electable woman, a woman with a big firm behind her. Women's groups supported her because they wanted to show that a woman would be a competent president.'{{cite web|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/10/19/miers_abortion/index.html|title=Will Miers help topple Roe v. Wade?|publisher=Salon.com|date=October 19, 2005|accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref>. | |||
From 1972 until 2001, Miers worked for the Dallas law firm of ] (and predecessor firms prior to mergers). She was the first female lawyer hired by the firm, and later became its president. When the merger that created Locke, Liddell & Sapp took place in 1999, she became the co-managing partner of a legal business with more than 400 lawyers. In 2000 the firm settled a lawsuit which accused the firm of having "aided a client in defrauding investors"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bankrupt.com/CAR_Public/000501.MBX|publisher=InterNet Bankruptcy Library|title=Class Action Reporter|date=May 1, 2000|accessdate=2007-01-05}}</ref> for $22 million; according to the Class Action Reporter, Miers "said the firm | |||
denies liability in connection with its representation of Erxleben. | |||
'Obviously, we evaluated that this was the right time to settle and to | |||
resolve this matter and that it was in the best interest of the firm to | |||
do so,' Miers said."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bankrupt.com/CAR_Public/000501.MBX|publisher=InterNet Bankruptcy Library|title=Class Action Reporter|date=May 1, 2000|accessdate=2007-01-05}}</ref> | |||
As a commercial litigator, she represented clients including ] and the ]. | As a commercial litigator, she represented clients including ] and the ]. | ||
In |
In 1985, Miers became the first female president of the Dallas Bar Association. In 1992, Miers became the first woman to head the State Bar of Texas.<ref name="CNN fast facts"/> From 1989 to 1998, she headed the Board of Editors for the '']''.<ref name="questionnaire">{{cite web|url=https://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/2005_MIERS/HEM_Questionnaire_final.pdf|last=Miers|first=Harriet|title=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States |via=NYTimes.com|accessdate=February 26, 2022}}</ref> From 2000 to 2001, Miers chaired the ]'s Commission on Multi-Jurisdictional Practice.<ref name="questionnaire"/> | ||
In 1989, Miers was elected to a two-year term as an at-large member of the Dallas City Council. She did not run for reelection in 1991 after a restructure of the city council converted Miers' at-large seat |
In 1989, Miers formally registered with the Republican Party and was elected to a two-year term as an at-large member of the Dallas City Council.<ref name="questionnaire"/><ref name="Miller Center">{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories/harriet-miers-oral-history|title=Harriet Miers Oral History |publisher=Miller Center|date=February 1, 2013|accessdate=May 1, 2022}}</ref> She did not run for reelection in 1991 after a restructure of the city council converted Miers's at-large seat into a single-district seat.<ref name="on council">{{cite news|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F10D20FD75E91D9F8|title=On council, Miers reserved to a point|last1=Levinthal|first1=Dave|last2=Housewright|first2=Ed|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=1A|date=October 8, 2005|accessdate=February 26, 2022|via=Newslibrary}}</ref> | ||
Miers met ] in January 1989 at an Austin dinner |
Miers met ] in January 1989 at an annual Austin dinner affair for legislators and other important people. ], a mutual friend and Miers's date, made the introduction. Miers subsequently worked as general counsel for Bush's transition team in 1994, when he was first elected ]. She subsequently became Bush's personal lawyer and worked as a lawyer in his ]. | ||
While head of the State Bar of Texas, Miers joined an unsuccessful effort to have the ] maintain its then-official position of neutrality on abortion. |
While head of the State Bar of Texas, Miers joined an unsuccessful effort to have the ] maintain its then-official position of neutrality on abortion. The ABA had adopted abortion neutrality at its 1990 annual meeting in Chicago after strong opposition by the State Bar of Texas to a pro-choice position. By the summer of 1992, at its annual meeting in San Francisco, the issue was again pending before the ABA assembly. Miers, who had not been involved in the Chicago meeting, supported ABA abortion neutrality in San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/politics/politicsspecial1/miers-was-leader-in-effort-within-bar-to-rescind.html|title=Miers Was Leader in Effort Within Bar to Rescind Support for Abortion|first=Robin|last=Toner|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 4, 2005}}</ref> At the San Francisco meeting, the ABA Assembly and House of Delegates voted to take a pro-choice rights position, and the state bar of Texas dropped its plans to ask the ABA's policy-making body to hold a referendum of the group's 370,000 members on the issue.<ref> ''Orlando Sentinel''</ref> | ||
Since September 1994, Miers has contributed to the campaigns of various Republicans (at about the same time she began to work for George W. Bush), including ], ], and ], with recorded contributions to Republican candidates and causes totaling nearly $12,000. Her earlier political history shows support for the ] during the 1980s, with recorded contributions to Democratic candidates and causes, including the ], the Senate campaign of ] and the ] of ], totaling $3,000. Her last recorded contribution to a Democratic cause or campaign was in 1988. ] said that she was a "conservative Democrat" at the time. | Since September 1994, Miers has contributed to the campaigns of various Republicans (at about the same time she began to work for George W. Bush), including ], ], and ], with recorded contributions to Republican candidates and causes totaling nearly $12,000. Her earlier political history shows support for the ] during the 1980s, with recorded contributions to Democratic candidates and causes, including the ], the Senate campaign of ] and the ] of ], totaling $3,000. Her last recorded contribution to a Democratic cause or campaign was in 1988. ] said that she was a "conservative Democrat" at the time. | ||
In April 2007, ] announced that Miers was returning to the firm.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520232040/http://www.dallasnews.com:80/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041907dnbusmiers.1f909464.html|archivedate=May 20, 2007|title=Miers returning to law firm|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041907dnbusmiers.1f909464.html|work=The Dallas Morning News|date=April 18, 2007|last1=Gillman|first1=Todd J.|last2=Torbenson|first2=Eric|accessdate=February 26, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> In her new role at the firm, Miers has registered with the ] as an agent for the ] and the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.muckety.com/2008/08/19/harriet-miers-goes-to-bat-for-pakistan/4632|title=Harriet Miers goes to bat for Pakistan|last=Eisenberg|first=Carol|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080823054220/http://news.muckety.com/2008/08/19/harriet-miers-goes-to-bat-for-pakistan/4632 |archivedate=August 23, 2008|date=August 19, 2008|work=Muckety|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
==Personal life== | |||
Miers' mother and two of her brothers still live in Dallas; a third brother lives in ]. She also had a sister, Kitty, who is deceased. Miers never married and has no children. | |||
She is a close friend of ] ] and former ] ]. ] Justice ] has known her for over 25 years. After her nomination to the Supreme Court, Hecht was cited as an unofficial spokesperson representing her views. | |||
==Government service== | ==Government service== | ||
In 1995, George W. Bush, then Texas governor, appointed Miers to chair the ] Commission. Some have credited Miers with reforming the commission after a previous corruption scandal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/04/usa.topstories3|title=Bush offers crucial supreme court seat to his former lawyer|author=Julian Borger|date=October 4, 2005|access-date=2007-01-04|work=The Guardian|location=London|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007214549/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/04/usa.topstories3|archivedate=October 7, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
Prior to assuming the position of ], Miers had served as White House ], and ]. Before joining the Bush administration, Miers was a lawyer in private practice for 27 years, handling business cases, and acting as then-Governor Bush's personal lawyer. She served as the first female president of both the ] and later the ], and also served one term on the Dallas City Council. | |||
Her tenure has also been criticized. In 1997, the commission under Miers hired Lawrence Littwin as executive director but fired him five months later. At the time, the contract to operate the lottery was held by the politically connected ],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/nov/28/observerbusiness.theobserver13 |title=It's rollover time for the Lottery|work=The Observer|place=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010418014428/http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3935858,00.html |archive-date=April 18, 2001|accessdate=February 26, 2022}}</ref> which had obtained the contract with the help of a former ] (] ]).<ref>{{cite news|title=Texas Speaker Reportedly Helped Bush Get Into Guard|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/barnes092199.htm|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=George Jr.|last= Lardner|date=September 21, 1999|access-date=February 26, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312132643/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/barnes092199.htm|archivedate=March 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Littwin, as director, began an investigation into whether GTech had made illegal campaign contributions and whether GTech owed the commission millions of dollars for breaches of its contract. He stated that Miers ordered him to stop the investigation. He brought a lawsuit alleging that he was fired in retaliation for the investigation and to ensure that GTech would keep its contract.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/76R/billtext/HC00153I.HTM |title=76(R) HCR 153 Introduced version - Bill Text |access-date=2006-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827001214/http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/76R/billtext/HC00153I.HTM |archive-date=2006-08-27 }}</ref> | |||
In 1995, George W. Bush, then Texas governor, appointed Miers to chair the ] Commission. Some have credited Miers with reforming the commission after a previous corruption scandal <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1584254,00.html|title=Bush offers crucial supreme court seat to his former lawyer|author=Julian Borger|date=October 4, 2005 | |||
|accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref>. | |||
According to ], GTech paid Littwin $300,000 to settle the suit.<ref>{{cite web|author=Texans for Public Justice |url=http://www.tpj.org/docs/2000/10/reports/appointments/boards.html|title=Governor Bush's Well-Appointed Texas Officials: Well-Appointed State Boards|publisher=Texans for Public Justice|date=October 2000|access-date=February 26, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040130052901/http://www.tpj.org/docs/2000/10/reports/appointments/boards.html|archivedate=January 30, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
Her tenure has also been criticized, however. In 1997, the commission under Miers hired Lawrence Littwin as executive director, but then fired him five months later. At the time, the contract to operate the lottery was held by the politically connected ] (see ), which had obtained the contract with the help of a former ] (] ]) <ref>{{cite web|title=Texas Speaker Reportedly Helped Bush Get Into Guard|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/barnes092199.htm|publisher='']''|author=George Lardner Jr.|date=September 21, 1999|accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref>. Littwin, as director, began an investigation into whether GTech had made illegal campaign contributions and whether GTech owed the commission millions of dollars for breaches of its contract. He stated that Miers ordered him to stop the investigation. He brought a lawsuit alleging that he was fired in retaliation for the investigation and to ensure that GTech would keep its contract (see ). | |||
According to Texans for Public Justice, GTech paid Littwin $300,000 to settle the suit (see ). | |||
Miers resigned from the lottery commission in early 2000, a year before her term ended. She said her resignation had nothing to do with lagging sales in the system's biggest game, ], but rather that she wanted to allow her successor time to prepare for rebidding the lottery's primary operator contract. | Miers resigned from the lottery commission in early 2000, a year before her term ended. She said her resignation had nothing to do with lagging sales in the system's biggest game, ], but rather that she wanted to allow her successor time to prepare for rebidding the lottery's primary operator contract. | ||
There was some speculation during Bush's 2000 campaign that Bush would appoint Miers to the position of Attorney General. This was seen as possible with her trusted role as Bush's personal attorney |
There was some speculation during Bush's 2000 campaign that Bush would appoint Miers to the position of Attorney General. This was seen as possible with her trusted role as Bush's personal attorney and her many appointments during his tenure as governor. This also recalled ], who was Ronald Reagan's personal attorney before being named Attorney General. Miers was not chosen and ] became Attorney General instead. | ||
In January 2001, Miers did follow Bush to ], serving as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary during the first two years of his presidency. In that role, she opposed the administration's 2001 decision to stop cooperating with the ABA ]. In 2003, she was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. In November 2004, Bush named her to succeed ], his nominee for ], to the post of White House Counsel, the chief legal adviser for the ]. | In January 2001, Miers did follow Bush to ], serving as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary during the first two years of his presidency. In that role, she opposed the administration's 2001 decision to stop cooperating with the ABA ]. In 2003, she was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. In November 2004, Bush named her to succeed ], his nominee for ], to the post of White House Counsel, the chief legal adviser for the ]. | ||
Miers is said to be one of Bush's closest personal friends |
Miers is said to be one of Bush's closest personal friends and appears given to effusive praise for the President. According to former Bush speechwriter ], Miers has called Bush the most brilliant man she had ever met<ref>{{cite web|url=http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjliZWZlOWJhNjQ0ZjA0MmQyYThiMTBlNjhjYmE3ZTg=|title=Sep. 29, 2005: Justice Miers?|author=David Frum|author-link=David Frum|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115105129/http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjliZWZlOWJhNjQ0ZjA0MmQyYThiMTBlNjhjYmE3ZTg=|archive-date=2006-11-15}}</ref> and says he was the "best Governor ever."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/11/politics/politicsspecial1/11archive.html|work=The New York Times|title=Documents Show Supreme Court Nominee's Close Ties to Bush|date=October 11, 2005|access-date=May 4, 2010}}</ref> She also stated that "serving President Bush and Mrs. Bush is an impossible-to-describe privilege" and noted that Bush's personal qualities "make a brighter future for our nation and people all around the world possible."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-18-na-praise18-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|title=In Speeches, Miers Heaped Praise on President|first=David G.|last=Savage|date=October 18, 2005|access-date=May 4, 2010}}</ref> | ||
Miers' last public speech before her nomination was given to the ] on |
Miers's last public speech before her nomination was given to the ] on June 2, 2005. | ||
==Supreme Court nomination and withdrawal== | ==Supreme Court nomination and withdrawal== | ||
{{Main|Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination}} | {{Main|Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination}} | ||
] |
{{See also|George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates}} | ||
] | |||
On |
On July 1, 2005, ] Justice ] announced her intention to retire upon the confirmation of a successor. Bush appointed Miers as head of the search committee for candidates. On July 19, Bush ] ] to replace O'Connor. However, several weeks later, ] ] died of ]. Bush then withdrew Roberts from consideration as O'Connor's replacement, instead nominating Roberts to fill the Chief Justice vacancy. The Senate confirmed Roberts on September 29. | ||
Meanwhile, Bush considered nominating Miers as O'Connor's successor, factoring into account bipartisan suggestions by Senators ] and ], that the nominee should come from outside the ].<ref name="cnn.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/03/scotus.miers/index.html|title=Bush picks White House counsel for Supreme Court|date=October 4, 2005|access-date=2007-01-04|publisher=CNN}}</ref> This caused several commentators to draw parallels with the 2000 election, when ], the head of Bush's vice-presidential search committee, was ultimately selected as the running mate.<ref name="cnn.com"/> | |||
Meanwhile, then-] ] (]-]), | |||
recommended Miers as O'Connor's successor<ref> | |||
"I had recommended that the President consider nominating Ms. Miers because I was impressed with her record of achievement as the managing partner of a major Texas law firm and the first woman president of the Texas Bar Association. In those roles she was a strong supporter of law firm diversity policies and a leader in promoting legal services for the poor. "{{cite web |url=http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=247842&&year=2005& |title= Reid on Miers Withdrawal (Press Release of Senator Reid)|author=Harry Reid|date=Thursday, October 27, 2005 |accessdate=2007-01-04 }} | |||
</ref><ref> | |||
"I like Harriet Miers. As White House Counsel, she has worked with me in a courteous and professional manner. I am also impressed with the fact that she was a trailblazer for women as managing partner of a major Dallas law firm and as the first woman president of the Texas Bar Association. In my view, the Supreme Court would benefit from the addition of a justice who has real experience as a practicing lawyer. The current justices have all been chosen from the lower federal courts. A nominee with relevant non-judicial experience would bring a different and useful perspective to the Court. "{{cite web |url=http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=246777&&year=2005&|title= STATEMENT OF SENATOR HARRY REID ON THE NOMINATION OF HARRIET MIERS TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT (Press Release of Senator Reid)|author=Harry Reid|date=Monday, October 3, 2005 |accessdate=2007-01-04 }} | |||
</ref><ref> | |||
"I continue to believe that Harriet Miers received a raw deal. She is an accomplished lawyer, a trailblazer for women and a strong advocate of legal services for the poor. Not only was she denied the up-down vote that my Republican colleagues say every nominee deserves, but she was never even afforded the chance to make her case to the Judiciary Committee."{{cite web |url=http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=250959&&year=2006&|title= REID STATEMENT ON THE CONFIRMATION OF SAMUEL ALITO (Press Release of Senator Reid)|author=Harry Reid|date=Tuesday, January 31, 2006 |accessdate=2007-01-04 }} | |||
</ref>. | |||
Bush took the recommendation seriously, factoring into account suggestions by several senators that the nominee should come from outside the ]<ref> | |||
{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/03/scotus.miers/index.html|title=Bush picks White House counsel for Supreme Court|date=October 4, 2005|accessdate=2007-01-04|publisher=]}} | |||
</ref>. This caused several commentators to draw parallels with the 2000 election, when ], the head of Bush's vice-presidential search committee, was ultimately selected as the running mate<ref> | |||
{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/03/scotus.miers/index.html|title=Bush picks White House counsel for Supreme Court|date=October 4, 2005|accessdate=2007-01-04|publisher=]}} | |||
</ref>. | |||
On |
On October 3, 2005, Bush nominated Miers to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, saying, "Harriet Miers will be the type of judge I said I would nominate: a good conservative judge."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/politics/politicsspecial1/09confirm.html?pagewanted=print&_r= | work=The New York Times | title=Bush Works to Reassure G.O.P. Over Nominee for Supreme Court | date=October 9, 2005}}</ref> Miers's nomination was criticized by people of various political views for the fact that she had never served as a judge at any level, her perceived lack of intellectual rigor, her close personal ties to Bush, and her lack of a clear record on issues likely to be encountered as a Supreme Court Justice. Many notable conservatives vigorously criticized her nomination, and numerous conservative groups normally considered part of Bush's ] planned to mount an organized opposition campaign. | ||
<blockquote>Who's willing to draw water for George Bush and carry it?<br>Harriet.<br>Who worked to take his DWI rap and bury it?<br>Harriet.<br>Who thinks that anyone critical of him is Judas Iscariot?<br> | |||
Still Harriet.<br>Rah! Rah! Rah! | |||
<ref name="Trillin">Trillin, Calvin. ''A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme'' New York: Random House (2006). A collection of political doggerel originally published 2004-2006, including a longer work on Miers titled ''Trouble on the Right,'' pp. 60-61. | |||
</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
Miers met with the ] after her nomination and in those meetings she was ill-prepared and uninformed on the law.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=278}} Senator ] told her privately that she "flunked" and " going to have to say something next time."{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=278}} Miers had difficulty expressing her views and explaining basic constitutional law concepts.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|pp=278-279}} Miers had no experience in constitutional law and did not have extensive litigation experience; at her Texas law firm, she had been more of a manager.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=279}} In addition, Miers had rarely handled appeals and did not understand the complicated constitutional questions senators asked of her.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=279}} To White House lawyers, Miers was "less an attorney than a law firm manager and bar association president."{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=280}} | |||
Early one-on-one meetings between Miers and the members of the ] were said to have gone poorly, and the White House considered suspending them to focus on preparation for the confirmation hearings. In an unprecedented move, ] Chairman ] and ranking Senator ] also requested that Miers re-do some of her answers to the questionnaire submitted to her by the Committee, noting that her responses were "inadequate," "insufficient," and "insulting" because she failed or refused to adequately answer various questions with acceptable accuracy or with sufficient detail. Her answers also included an error on constitutional law where she mentioned a constitutional right for proportional representation which the Supreme Court had previously ruled did not exist. In addition to the demand for new questionnaire responses, the Committee repeated its request to review internal White House documents that would illustrate her experience as White House Counsel and the constitutional issues she worked on. | |||
In an unprecedented move, ] Chairman ] and ranking Democrat ] also requested that Miers re-do some of her answers to the questionnaire submitted to her by the Committee, noting that her responses were "inadequate", "insufficient", and "insulting" because she failed or refused to adequately answer various questions with acceptable accuracy or with sufficient detail.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=281}} Miers also was claimed to have privately expressed a belief in the right to privacy to the pro-choice Arlen Specter, only to later deny that she had communicated that position.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|pp=280-281}} Her answers also included an error on constitutional law where she mentioned an explicit constitutional right for proportional representation; though many court rulings have found that legislative and other districts of unequal population violate the ], the right to proportional districts is not explicitly mentioned in the United States Constitution.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101902402.html|title=Senators Assail Miers's Replies, Ask for Details|access-date=February 26, 2022|newspaper=The Washington Post|first1=Charles|last1=Babington|first2=Michael A.|last2=Fletcher|date=October 20, 2005|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024231349/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101902402.html|archivedate=October 24, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
Senator ] (D-NY) stated shortly afterwards that "I think, if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor." However, Specter, the committee chairman rejected the notion that Miers' nomination was shaky. He said that most senators were waiting for the hearings before making up their mind. "There are no votes one way or another," he said on CBS' '']''. On ], ], Specter and Leahy announced their intent to begin confirmation hearings for Miers on ], ]. | |||
Overall, Miers received an unfavorable response in private meetings with senators. Republican senators ] and ] then drafted a letter asking the President's office to turn over legal memoranda and briefs Miers had written for Bush, in order to elucidate her views on political matters.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=282}} Brownback and Graham knew the memos were protected by executive privilege, that the White House was not required to turn them over, and that Miers could refuse to deliver the memos and then ostensibly step down on principle.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=282}} Miers would later use this request as part of a face-saving exit strategy for stepping down. In her letter withdrawing her nomination, she pointed to the senators' request for confidential documents as potentially damaging the executive branch's independence.{{sfn|Greenburg|2008|p=284}} On October 19, 2005, Specter and Leahy announced their intent to begin confirmation hearings for Miers on November 7, 2005.<ref name="more controversy">{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024031635/https://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/18/miers/index.html|archivedate=October 24, 2005|title=More controversy over Miers|url=https://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/18/miers/index.html|publisher=CNN|date=October 18, 2005|accessdate=February 25, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
On ], ], the ] announced that Harriet Miers had asked President Bush to withdraw her nomination, citing fears that the nomination would create a "burden for the White House and its staff and it is not in the best interest of the country." President Bush stated that the Senate's interest in internal White House documents "would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel," and he had "reluctantly accepted" her request. Miers was the first Supreme Court nominee to withdraw since ] in 1987, and the seventh to do so in U.S. history. | |||
Speaking with ]' '']'' on October 23, 2005, Senator ] (D-NY) said: "...if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor."<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029190911/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9764239/|archive-date=October 29, 2005|title=Transcript for October 23|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9764239|work=Meet the Press|publisher=NBC News|date=October 23, 2005|access-date=February 25, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> However, speaking on ]' '']'' the same day, committee chair Specter said that most senators were waiting for the hearings before making up their mind.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215094810/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/23/supremecourt/main965318.shtml|archive-date=February 15, 2006|title=Senator: Miers Lacks Votes To Win|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senator-miers-lacks-votes-to-win/|publisher=CBS News|date=October 23, 2005|access-date=February 25, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Although many in Washington and in the media expressed surprise at Miers' decision to withdraw, the move was widely anticipated. Some commentators suggested the White House's staunch refusal to release documents relating to Miers' White House service provided a pretext for withdrawal. | |||
On October 27, 2005, Miers asked President Bush to withdraw her nomination,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4976787|title=Why Miers Withdrew as Supreme Court Nominee|website=NPR.org|date=27 October 2005|last1=Markels|first1=Alex}}</ref> citing fears that the nomination would create a "burden for the White House and its staff".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9837716|title=Harriet Miers withdrawal letter|date=October 27, 2005|website=msnbc.com}}</ref> President Bush stated that the Senate's interest in internal White House documents "would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel" and that he had "reluctantly accepted" her request.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/27/miers.nominations/|title=CNN.com - Miers withdraws Supreme Court nomination - Oct 28, 2005|website=edition.cnn.com}}</ref> Miers was the first Supreme Court nominee to withdraw under duress since ] in 1987.<ref>{{cite magazine| title=Behind the Miers Withdrawal| first=Matthew| last=Cooper| date=October 27, 2005| magazine=Time| url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1123268,00.html| access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref> | |||
Bush nominated ] for the seat on ] ] and he was confirmed on ] ]. Miers remained as ] for another year, until announcing her resignation on ], ]<ref> | |||
{{cite web|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6232291.stm|title=Bush's top lawyer Miers resigns|publisher=]|date=2007-01-04|accessdate=2007-01-04}} | |||
</ref>. | |||
Bush then nominated ] for the seat on October 31, 2005. The Senate subsequently confirmed Alito on January 31, 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Andrew|last=Glass|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/this-day-in-history-george-w-bush-nominates-samuel-alito-supreme-court-99117.html|title=Bush nominates Alito, Oct. 31, 2005|website=Politico| date=October 31, 2013}}</ref> Miers remained as ] for another year until announcing her resignation on January 4, 2007.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6232291.stm|title=Bush's top lawyer Miers resigns|publisher=BBC|date=2007-01-04|access-date=2007-01-04}}</ref> | |||
{{seealso|Bush Supreme Court candidates}} | |||
==Resignation and departure from the White House== | ==Resignation and departure from the White House== | ||
Joshua B. Bolten, upon becoming |
], upon becoming President Bush's chief of staff in April 2006, pressed for Miers's resignation, but Bush rejected the idea. After the 2006 elections, when Democrats won a majority of both chambers of Congress, Bolten asked again for her departure, arguing that the president needed an aggressive lawyer and increased staff for the Office of Legal Counsel to fend off congressional inquiries and subpoenas. The second effort succeeded; Miers announced her resignation January 4, 2007 and left January 31, 2007.<ref>Johnston, David and Sheryl Gay Stolberg. ''The New York Times'' May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2007.</ref><ref name="WPost-Baker-2007-05-23">{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Baker|author2=R. Jeffrey Smith|title=Miers Steps Down As White House Gears Up for Battle|date=January 5, 2007|url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010400778.html|work=The New York Times|pages=A01|access-date=2007-05-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Gabriel|last=Madway|title=Miers Resigns As White House Counsel|date=January 4, 2007|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/harriet-miers-resigns-as-white-house-counsel|work=Market Watch|access-date=2007-05-23}}</ref> In April 2007, Miers rejoined her previous firm, Locke Liddell & Sapp (now ]), and became a partner in its litigation and public policy group. | ||
Johnston, David and Sheryl Gay Stolberg. ''The New York Times'' May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2007.</ref><ref name='WPost-Baker-2007-05-23'> | |||
{{cite news | first=Peter | last=Baker | coauthors= R. Jeffrey Smith | title=Miers Steps Down As White House Gears Up for Battle | date=January 5, 2007 | publisher= | url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010400778.html | work =New York Times | pages =A01 | accessdate = 2007-05-23 | language = }} | |||
</ref><ref name='Breitbart-Reichman-2007-05-03'> | |||
{{cite news | first=Deb | last=Reichman | coauthors= (Associated Press) | title=Miers Resigns As White House Counsel | date=January 4, 2007 | publisher= | url =http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8MEJJVG1&show_article=1 | work =Breitbart | pages = | accessdate = 2007-05-23 | language = }} | |||
</ref> | |||
==Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy== | ==Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy== | ||
{{See also|Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy}} | {{See also|Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy}} | ||
{{Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy}} | {{Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy small}} | ||
], chief of staff to ] ], wrote in January 2006 to |
], chief of staff to ] ], wrote to Miers in January 2006 to recommend that the Department of Justice and the Office of the Counsel to the President work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of U.S. Attorneys, saying that limiting the number of attorneys "targeted for removal and replacement" would "mitigat the shock to the system that would result from an across-the-board firing."<ref name="Eggen-Solomon20070313">{{cite news|access-date=2007-03-13|author=Eggen, Dan|author2=John Solomon|date=March 13, 2007|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201818_pf.html|title=Firings Had Genesis in White House Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=Page A01}}</ref> In March 2007 the White House had suggested that the plan came from Miers, who had left the White House in January 2007, before the dismissal received public attention.<ref name="Eggen-Solomon20070313"/> The firings have led to Congressional investigations regarding the ]. | ||
|author=Eggen, Dan |coauthor=John Solomon |date=], ] |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201818_pf.html | |||
|title=Firings Had Genesis in White House Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show |work=Washington Post|page=Page A01}} | |||
</ref> | |||
In March 2007 the White House had originally suggested that the plan came from Miers who had already left the White House in January 2007, before the dismissal received public attention.<ref name="Eggen-Solomon20070313"> | |||
{{cite news|accessdate=2007-03-13|author=Eggen, Dan |coauthor=John Solomon |date=], ] |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201818_pf.html |title=Firings Had Genesis in White House Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show |work=Washington Post|page=Page A01}} | |||
</ref> | |||
The firings have led to Congressional investigations regarding the ]. | |||
On |
On June 13, 2007, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees issued subpoenas to Miers and to ], former deputy assistant to President Bush and the White House director of political affairs, asking them to produce documents and appear before the committees to testify about what role, if any, both may have had in the U.S. Attorney firings controversy. Miers was requested to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 11, 2007. The White House reiterated its longstanding demand that no past or present White House officials would be permitted to testify under oath before the panels, and that private interviews, not under oath, and without transcripts would be permitted. The Chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees reiterated that the White House terms were unacceptable.<ref name="NYT-Stout-2007-06-13">{{cite news|first=David|last=Stout|title=Congress Subpoenas Miers and Another Former Bush Aide|date=June 13, 2007|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/washington/13cnd-attorneys.html?hp|work=The New York Times|access-date=2007-06-13}}</ref> Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee ] said that the committee had "really had no response from the White House" regarding possible testimony on the firing of several U.S. attorneys, and that had prompted the subpoena to compel a response. Miers refused to appear before Congress because Bush ordered her not to.<ref name="Hill-Marre-2007-06-13">{{cite news|first=Klaus|last=Marre|title=Specter endorses subpoena of White House official|date=June 13, 2007|publisher=Capitol Hill Publishing|url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/specter-agrees-with-issuing-subpoena-2007-06-13.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603212008/http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/specter-agrees-with-issuing-subpoena-2007-06-13.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 3, 2008|work=The Hill|access-date=2007-06-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoena of Harriet Miers |publisher=Gonzales Watch |url=http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/06/13/senate-judiciary-subpoenas-harriet-miers-former-white-house-counsel/ |date=2007-06-13 |access-date=2007-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629135935/http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/06/13/senate-judiciary-subpoenas-harriet-miers-former-white-house-counsel/ |archive-date=June 29, 2007 }}</ref> On Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the ] voted 22–17 to cite Miers for ] for her failure to appear before the committee in response to its subpoena.<ref name=twssffwe>{{cite news|title=Panel Holds Two Bush Aides in Contempt|work=The New York Times|quote=The House Judiciary Committee voted today to seek contempt of Congress citations against a top aide to President Bush and a former presidential aide over their refusal to cooperate in an inquiry about the firing of federal prosecutors.... president's chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers|date=July 25, 2007|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/washington/25cnd-contempt.html?_r=1|access-date=2010-09-22|first=David|last=Stout}}</ref> On February 14, 2008, the full House of Representatives voted to cite her for contempt by a vote of 223–32. Many Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest, deriding the priorities of the speaker in calling the vote, as opposed to a vote on a surveillance bill.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/washington/15contempt.html?hp|work=The New York Times|title=House Votes to Issue Contempt Citations|first=Philip|last=Shenon|date=February 15, 2008|access-date=May 4, 2010}}</ref> | ||
</ref> | |||
Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary committee, ] said that the committee had “really had no response from the White House” regarding possible testimony on the firing of several U.S. attorneys, and that that had prompted the subpoena to compel a response. Miers refused to appear before Congress because Bush ordered her not to.<ref name='Hill-Marre-2007-06-13'> | |||
{{cite news | first=Klaus | last=Marre | coauthors= | title=Specter endorses subpoena of White House official | date=June 13, 2007 | publisher=Capitol Hill Publishing | url =http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/specter-agrees-with-issuing-subpoena-2007-06-13.html | work =The Hill | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-14 | language = }} | |||
</ref><ref> | |||
{{citeweb|title = Senate Judiciary Committee Subponea of Harriet Miers | publisher = Gonzales Watch | url = http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/06/13/senate-judiciary-subpoenas-harriet-miers-former-white-house-counsel/ | date = ] | accessdate = 2007-06-13 }} | |||
</ref> | |||
On March 4, 2009, Miers and former ] to President Bush ] agreed to testify under oath before Congress about the firings of U.S. attorneys.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/04/karl-rove-harriet-miers-t_n_171961.html|title=Karl Rove, Harriet Miers To Testify Before House Judiciary Committee|website=]}}</ref> | |||
On Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the ] voted 22-17 to cite Miers for ] for her failure to appear before the committee in response to its subpoena. | |||
== |
==Personal life== | ||
Miers is a close friend of former ] ] and former ] ]. ] Justice ] has known her for more than 25 years. After Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court, Hecht was cited as an unofficial spokesperson representing her views. | |||
{|class="wikitable" | |||
! Award | |||
! Organization | |||
! Year | |||
|- | |||
|"] Award for Professional Excellence" | |||
|Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism | |||
|2005 | |||
|- | |||
|"100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" | |||
|'']'' | |||
|2000 | |||
|- | |||
|"50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America" | |||
|'']'' | |||
|1998 | |||
|- | |||
|"100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" | |||
|'']'' | |||
|1997 | |||
|- | |||
|"Woman of the Year" | |||
|''Today's Dallas Woman'' | |||
|1997 | |||
|- | |||
|"Women of Excellence" | |||
|''Women's Enterprise Magazine'' | |||
|1997 | |||
|- | |||
|"Louise B. Raggio Award" | |||
|Dallas Women Lawyers' Association | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"Jurisprudence Award" | |||
|] | |||
|1996 | |||
|- | |||
|"Merrill Hartman Award" | |||
|Legal Services of North Texas | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"] Award" | |||
|Women in the Law Section, State Bar of Texas | |||
|1993 | |||
|- | |||
|"Human Relations Award" | |||
|] | |||
|1992 | |||
|- | |||
|"Justinian Award for Community Service" | |||
|] | |||
|1992 | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
In 1979, after she made partner in her law firm, she became an evangelical Christian after a series of long discussions with Hecht, who was her colleague at the firm.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/05/MNGB5F2N671.DTL |title=A BORN-AGAIN NOMINEE |author=Ed Wyatt and Simone Romero of '']'' |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=August 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810084916/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/05/MNGB5F2N671.DTL |archive-date=August 10, 2007 }}</ref> | |||
==Timeline== | |||
*], ]: Harriet Miers born in ]. | |||
*]: Miers graduates from ] with a ] in ] | |||
*Summer ]: Miers works for the firm of Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff | |||
*]: Miers graduates from ] with a ] | |||
*]-]: Miers works as a ] for Joe E. Estes, Chief Judge of the ] | |||
*]: Miers begins working in private practice for the Dallas firm of ] and predecessor firms prior to mergers. | |||
*]: Miers becomes the first female president of the ] | |||
*January, ]: Miers meets ]. | |||
*]-]: Miers elected an at-large member on the Dallas City Council; did not run for reelection. | |||
*]: Miers becomes the first female head of the ]. | |||
*]: Miers works as general counsel for Bush's transition team when Bush becomes ]. | |||
*]: She becomes Bush's personal lawyer. | |||
*]: Texas governor George W. Bush appoints Miers to chair the Texas Lottery Commission. | |||
*]: Miers resigns from the Texas Lottery Commission, a year before her term ended. | |||
*]: Locke, Liddell & Sapp settle a lawsuit asserting that "it aided a client in defrauding investors" for $22 million. | |||
*]: Miers as a lawyer in his 2000 presidential campaign. | |||
*]-] Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary | |||
*]: Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy | |||
*]: White House Counsel, the chief legal adviser for the Office of the President. | |||
*]: Nominated to Supreme Court. | |||
*], ]: Supreme Court nomination withdrawn. | |||
*], ]: Announced resignation as White House Legal Counsel. | |||
*], ]: Effective date of resignation and departure from the White House. | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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==References== | ||
;Works cited | |||
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* {{cite book|last=Greenburg|first=Jan Crawford|title=Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court|place=New York|publisher=Penguin|year=2008|orig-year=2007|isbn=9780143113041|oclc=166382420}} | |||
;Notes | |||
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* A toxic mix of money and power has sustained Republicans in the United States for a generation. Sidney Blumenthal exposes a corrupt system approaching legal nemesis. | |||
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*Fletcher, Michael A. "Quiet but ambitious White House counsel makes life of law." ''Washington Post''. ] ]. | |||
*Palast, Greg. "Dear Richard, don't say we didn't tell you." ''The Guardian''. ] ]. | |||
*Waas, Murray ''National Journal'', May 10, 2007. | |||
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Latest revision as of 02:15, 14 November 2024
American lawyer and Supreme Court nomineeHarriet Miers | |
---|---|
Official portrait, 2005 | |
White House Counsel | |
In office February 3, 2005 – January 31, 2007 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Alberto Gonzales |
Succeeded by | Fred Fielding |
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy | |
In office June 6, 2003 – February 3, 2005 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Joshua Bolten |
Succeeded by | Karl Rove |
White House Staff Secretary | |
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2003 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Lisel Loy |
Succeeded by | Brett Kavanaugh |
Chair of Texas Lottery Commission | |
In office 1995–2000 | |
Member-at-Large Dallas City Council | |
In office 1989–1991 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Harriet Ellan Miers (1945-08-10) August 10, 1945 (age 79) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Education | Southern Methodist University (BA, JD) |
Harriet Ellan Miers (born August 10, 1945) is an American lawyer who served as White House counsel to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party since 1988, she previously served as White House staff secretary from 2001 to 2003 and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy from 2003 until 2005. In 2005, Miers was nominated by Bush to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but—in the face of bipartisan opposition—asked Bush to withdraw her nomination a little over three weeks after it was announced. In 2007, Miers returned to private practice, becoming a partner in the litigation and public policy group at Locke Lord.
Early life and education
Miers was born in Dallas and spent most of her life there until she moved to Washington, D.C., (2001) to work in the Bush administration. She has described herself as a "Texan through and through." She is the fourth of the five children of real estate investor Harris Wood Miers Sr., and his wife, the former Erma (Sally) Grace Richardson. Miers graduated from Hillcrest High School in Dallas in 1963.
Miers entered Southern Methodist University intending to become a teacher. The economic plight of her family was so dire that she almost dropped out in her freshman year, but she was able to find part-time work that put her through college. Then, her father had a debilitating stroke. When a lawyer helped organize her family's financial situation, Miers was inspired to enter law school. In 1967, Miers graduated from Southern Methodist University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. In 1970, she graduated from its Dedman School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree (1970).
Career
In the summer of 1969, between her second and third years of law school, Miers worked as a clerk for Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff, the San Francisco law firm founded by Melvin Belli. Miers was immersed in tort law. Her supervisor was Robert Lieff, then a partner in the Belli firm and later a founder of the nationally prominent plaintiffs' law firm Lieff Cabraser. In a 2005 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Lieff stated that Miers "saw what we did for people who needed to get a lawyer and were only able to get a lawyer by a contingent fee."
After graduating from law school, from 1970 to 1972 Miers was a law clerk for the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Joe E. Estes. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1970 and admitted to the DC bar in 1997.
In the late 1990s, while Miers was on the advisory board for Southern Methodist University's law school, she helped create and fund a Women's Studies lecture series named after pioneering Texas lawyer Louise B. Raggio, who was a mentor to Miers. Raggio, who died in 2011, knew Miers for nearly 40 years, since Miers was a student at Southern Methodist University. Miers was one class behind Raggio's son at SMU, and Raggio became a mentor for Miers; years later she served as a close advisor to Miers during the Texas Bar race. "I was interested in having a woman president," Raggio says. "She was an electable woman, a woman with a big firm behind her. Women's groups supported her because they wanted to show that a woman would be a competent president.".
From 1972 until 2001 Miers worked for the Dallas law firm of Locke, Liddell & Sapp (and predecessor firms before mergers). She was the first female lawyer hired by the firm and later became its president. When the merger that created Locke, Liddell & Sapp took place in 1999, she became the co-managing partner of a legal business with more than 400 lawyers. In 2000 the firm settled a lawsuit for $22 million that accused the firm of having "aided a client in defrauding investors". According to the Class Action Reporter, Miers "said the firm denies liability in connection with its representation of Erxleben. 'Obviously, we evaluated that this was the right time to settle and to resolve this matter and that it was in the best interest of the firm to do so,' Miers said."
As a commercial litigator, she represented clients including Microsoft and the Walt Disney Company.
In 1985, Miers became the first female president of the Dallas Bar Association. In 1992, Miers became the first woman to head the State Bar of Texas. From 1989 to 1998, she headed the Board of Editors for the American Bar Association Journal. From 2000 to 2001, Miers chaired the ABA's Commission on Multi-Jurisdictional Practice.
In 1989, Miers formally registered with the Republican Party and was elected to a two-year term as an at-large member of the Dallas City Council. She did not run for reelection in 1991 after a restructure of the city council converted Miers's at-large seat into a single-district seat.
Miers met George W. Bush in January 1989 at an annual Austin dinner affair for legislators and other important people. Nathan Hecht, a mutual friend and Miers's date, made the introduction. Miers subsequently worked as general counsel for Bush's transition team in 1994, when he was first elected Governor of Texas. She subsequently became Bush's personal lawyer and worked as a lawyer in his 2000 presidential campaign.
While head of the State Bar of Texas, Miers joined an unsuccessful effort to have the American Bar Association maintain its then-official position of neutrality on abortion. The ABA had adopted abortion neutrality at its 1990 annual meeting in Chicago after strong opposition by the State Bar of Texas to a pro-choice position. By the summer of 1992, at its annual meeting in San Francisco, the issue was again pending before the ABA assembly. Miers, who had not been involved in the Chicago meeting, supported ABA abortion neutrality in San Francisco. At the San Francisco meeting, the ABA Assembly and House of Delegates voted to take a pro-choice rights position, and the state bar of Texas dropped its plans to ask the ABA's policy-making body to hold a referendum of the group's 370,000 members on the issue.
Since September 1994, Miers has contributed to the campaigns of various Republicans (at about the same time she began to work for George W. Bush), including Kay Bailey Hutchison, Phil Gramm, and Pete Sessions, with recorded contributions to Republican candidates and causes totaling nearly $12,000. Her earlier political history shows support for the Democrats during the 1980s, with recorded contributions to Democratic candidates and causes, including the Democratic National Committee, the Senate campaign of Lloyd Bentsen and the 1988 presidential campaign of Al Gore, totaling $3,000. Her last recorded contribution to a Democratic cause or campaign was in 1988. Ed Gillespie said that she was a "conservative Democrat" at the time.
In April 2007, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell announced that Miers was returning to the firm. In her new role at the firm, Miers has registered with the United States Department of Justice as an agent for the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Embassy of Pakistan.
Government service
In 1995, George W. Bush, then Texas governor, appointed Miers to chair the Texas Lottery Commission. Some have credited Miers with reforming the commission after a previous corruption scandal.
Her tenure has also been criticized. In 1997, the commission under Miers hired Lawrence Littwin as executive director but fired him five months later. At the time, the contract to operate the lottery was held by the politically connected GTech Corporation, which had obtained the contract with the help of a former Lieutenant Governor of Texas (Democrat Ben Barnes). Littwin, as director, began an investigation into whether GTech had made illegal campaign contributions and whether GTech owed the commission millions of dollars for breaches of its contract. He stated that Miers ordered him to stop the investigation. He brought a lawsuit alleging that he was fired in retaliation for the investigation and to ensure that GTech would keep its contract.
According to Texans for Public Justice, GTech paid Littwin $300,000 to settle the suit.
Miers resigned from the lottery commission in early 2000, a year before her term ended. She said her resignation had nothing to do with lagging sales in the system's biggest game, Lotto Texas, but rather that she wanted to allow her successor time to prepare for rebidding the lottery's primary operator contract.
There was some speculation during Bush's 2000 campaign that Bush would appoint Miers to the position of Attorney General. This was seen as possible with her trusted role as Bush's personal attorney and her many appointments during his tenure as governor. This also recalled William French Smith, who was Ronald Reagan's personal attorney before being named Attorney General. Miers was not chosen and John Ashcroft became Attorney General instead.
In January 2001, Miers did follow Bush to Washington, D.C., serving as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary during the first two years of his presidency. In that role, she opposed the administration's 2001 decision to stop cooperating with the ABA rating of judicial nominees. In 2003, she was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. In November 2004, Bush named her to succeed Alberto Gonzales, his nominee for Attorney General, to the post of White House Counsel, the chief legal adviser for the Office of the President.
Miers is said to be one of Bush's closest personal friends and appears given to effusive praise for the President. According to former Bush speechwriter David Frum, Miers has called Bush the most brilliant man she had ever met and says he was the "best Governor ever." She also stated that "serving President Bush and Mrs. Bush is an impossible-to-describe privilege" and noted that Bush's personal qualities "make a brighter future for our nation and people all around the world possible."
Miers's last public speech before her nomination was given to the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce on June 2, 2005.
Supreme Court nomination and withdrawal
Main article: Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination See also: George W. Bush Supreme Court candidatesOn July 1, 2005, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her intention to retire upon the confirmation of a successor. Bush appointed Miers as head of the search committee for candidates. On July 19, Bush nominated John Roberts to replace O'Connor. However, several weeks later, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died of thyroid cancer. Bush then withdrew Roberts from consideration as O'Connor's replacement, instead nominating Roberts to fill the Chief Justice vacancy. The Senate confirmed Roberts on September 29.
Meanwhile, Bush considered nominating Miers as O'Connor's successor, factoring into account bipartisan suggestions by Senators Arlen Specter and Patrick Leahy, that the nominee should come from outside the appellate court system. This caused several commentators to draw parallels with the 2000 election, when Dick Cheney, the head of Bush's vice-presidential search committee, was ultimately selected as the running mate.
On October 3, 2005, Bush nominated Miers to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, saying, "Harriet Miers will be the type of judge I said I would nominate: a good conservative judge." Miers's nomination was criticized by people of various political views for the fact that she had never served as a judge at any level, her perceived lack of intellectual rigor, her close personal ties to Bush, and her lack of a clear record on issues likely to be encountered as a Supreme Court Justice. Many notable conservatives vigorously criticized her nomination, and numerous conservative groups normally considered part of Bush's political base planned to mount an organized opposition campaign.
Miers met with the Senate Judiciary Committee after her nomination and in those meetings she was ill-prepared and uninformed on the law. Senator Tom Coburn told her privately that she "flunked" and " going to have to say something next time." Miers had difficulty expressing her views and explaining basic constitutional law concepts. Miers had no experience in constitutional law and did not have extensive litigation experience; at her Texas law firm, she had been more of a manager. In addition, Miers had rarely handled appeals and did not understand the complicated constitutional questions senators asked of her. To White House lawyers, Miers was "less an attorney than a law firm manager and bar association president."
In an unprecedented move, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter and ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy also requested that Miers re-do some of her answers to the questionnaire submitted to her by the Committee, noting that her responses were "inadequate", "insufficient", and "insulting" because she failed or refused to adequately answer various questions with acceptable accuracy or with sufficient detail. Miers also was claimed to have privately expressed a belief in the right to privacy to the pro-choice Arlen Specter, only to later deny that she had communicated that position. Her answers also included an error on constitutional law where she mentioned an explicit constitutional right for proportional representation; though many court rulings have found that legislative and other districts of unequal population violate the equal protection clause, the right to proportional districts is not explicitly mentioned in the United States Constitution.
Overall, Miers received an unfavorable response in private meetings with senators. Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback then drafted a letter asking the President's office to turn over legal memoranda and briefs Miers had written for Bush, in order to elucidate her views on political matters. Brownback and Graham knew the memos were protected by executive privilege, that the White House was not required to turn them over, and that Miers could refuse to deliver the memos and then ostensibly step down on principle. Miers would later use this request as part of a face-saving exit strategy for stepping down. In her letter withdrawing her nomination, she pointed to the senators' request for confidential documents as potentially damaging the executive branch's independence. On October 19, 2005, Specter and Leahy announced their intent to begin confirmation hearings for Miers on November 7, 2005.
Speaking with NBC News' Meet the Press on October 23, 2005, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said: "...if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor." However, speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation the same day, committee chair Specter said that most senators were waiting for the hearings before making up their mind.
On October 27, 2005, Miers asked President Bush to withdraw her nomination, citing fears that the nomination would create a "burden for the White House and its staff". President Bush stated that the Senate's interest in internal White House documents "would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel" and that he had "reluctantly accepted" her request. Miers was the first Supreme Court nominee to withdraw under duress since Douglas H. Ginsburg in 1987.
Bush then nominated Samuel Alito for the seat on October 31, 2005. The Senate subsequently confirmed Alito on January 31, 2006. Miers remained as White House Counsel for another year until announcing her resignation on January 4, 2007.
Resignation and departure from the White House
Joshua B. Bolten, upon becoming President Bush's chief of staff in April 2006, pressed for Miers's resignation, but Bush rejected the idea. After the 2006 elections, when Democrats won a majority of both chambers of Congress, Bolten asked again for her departure, arguing that the president needed an aggressive lawyer and increased staff for the Office of Legal Counsel to fend off congressional inquiries and subpoenas. The second effort succeeded; Miers announced her resignation January 4, 2007 and left January 31, 2007. In April 2007, Miers rejoined her previous firm, Locke Liddell & Sapp (now Locke Lord), and became a partner in its litigation and public policy group.
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
See also: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversyDismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy |
Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, wrote to Miers in January 2006 to recommend that the Department of Justice and the Office of the Counsel to the President work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of U.S. Attorneys, saying that limiting the number of attorneys "targeted for removal and replacement" would "mitigat the shock to the system that would result from an across-the-board firing." In March 2007 the White House had suggested that the plan came from Miers, who had left the White House in January 2007, before the dismissal received public attention. The firings have led to Congressional investigations regarding the dismissals.
On June 13, 2007, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees issued subpoenas to Miers and to Sara M. Taylor, former deputy assistant to President Bush and the White House director of political affairs, asking them to produce documents and appear before the committees to testify about what role, if any, both may have had in the U.S. Attorney firings controversy. Miers was requested to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 11, 2007. The White House reiterated its longstanding demand that no past or present White House officials would be permitted to testify under oath before the panels, and that private interviews, not under oath, and without transcripts would be permitted. The Chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees reiterated that the White House terms were unacceptable. Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Arlen Specter (R-PA) said that the committee had "really had no response from the White House" regarding possible testimony on the firing of several U.S. attorneys, and that had prompted the subpoena to compel a response. Miers refused to appear before Congress because Bush ordered her not to. On Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee voted 22–17 to cite Miers for contempt of Congress for her failure to appear before the committee in response to its subpoena. On February 14, 2008, the full House of Representatives voted to cite her for contempt by a vote of 223–32. Many Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest, deriding the priorities of the speaker in calling the vote, as opposed to a vote on a surveillance bill.
On March 4, 2009, Miers and former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush Karl Rove agreed to testify under oath before Congress about the firings of U.S. attorneys.
Personal life
Miers is a close friend of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman. Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht has known her for more than 25 years. After Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court, Hecht was cited as an unofficial spokesperson representing her views.
In 1979, after she made partner in her law firm, she became an evangelical Christian after a series of long discussions with Hecht, who was her colleague at the firm.
See also
- Unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of first women lawyers and judges in Texas
References
- Works cited
- Greenburg, Jan Crawford (2008) . Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9780143113041. OCLC 166382420.
- Notes
- Borger, Julian (October 4, 2005). "Bush offers crucial supreme court seat to his former lawyer". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- Robert Battle. "Ancestry of Harriet Miers". William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
- Goodwyn, Wade (October 17, 2005). "Miers' Texas Past and Controversy Today". All Things Considered. NPR. Archived from the original on October 23, 2005. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- Todd S. Purdum and Neil A. Lewis (October 4, 2005). "Miers Known as a Hard-Working Advocate for the President". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 31, 2006. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- "Who is Harriet Miers". ABC News. 2005-10-27. Archived from the original on December 15, 2005.
- Bob Egelko (October 5, 2005). "Miers interned with Melvin Belli but returned to Dallas". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ Library, CNN (September 19, 2013). "Harriet Miers Fast Facts". CNN. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
{{cite web}}
:|first=
has generic name (help) - Schmidt, Peter (October 6, 2005). "Supreme Court Nominee Helped Set Up Lecture Series That Brought Leading Feminists to Southern Methodist U." Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on February 16, 2006. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- "Will Miers help topple Roe v. Wade?". Salon.com. October 19, 2005. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- ^ "LOCKE LIDDELL: $ 22 Mil Settlement Serves as Warning to Other Law Firms". Class Action Reporter. 2 (83). InterNet Bankruptcy Library. May 1, 2000. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ Miers, Harriet. "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States [Questionnaire]" (PDF). Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via NYTimes.com.
- "Harriet Miers Oral History". Miller Center. February 1, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- Levinthal, Dave; Housewright, Ed (October 8, 2005). "On council, Miers reserved to a point". The Dallas Morning News. p. 1A. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newslibrary.
- Toner, Robin (October 4, 2005). "Miers Was Leader in Effort Within Bar to Rescind Support for Abortion". The New York Times.
- "Lawyers Drop Request For Aba Abortion Poll" Orlando Sentinel
- Gillman, Todd J.; Torbenson, Eric (April 18, 2007). "Miers returning to law firm". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- Eisenberg, Carol (August 19, 2008). "Harriet Miers goes to bat for Pakistan". Muckety. Archived from the original on August 23, 2008.
- Julian Borger (October 4, 2005). "Bush offers crucial supreme court seat to his former lawyer". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- "It's rollover time for the Lottery". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- Lardner, George Jr. (September 21, 1999). "Texas Speaker Reportedly Helped Bush Get Into Guard". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- "76(R) HCR 153 Introduced version - Bill Text". Archived from the original on 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
- Texans for Public Justice (October 2000). "Governor Bush's Well-Appointed Texas Officials: Well-Appointed State Boards". Texans for Public Justice. Archived from the original on January 30, 2004. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- David Frum. "Sep. 29, 2005: Justice Miers?". Archived from the original on 2006-11-15.
- "Documents Show Supreme Court Nominee's Close Ties to Bush". The New York Times. October 11, 2005. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- Savage, David G. (October 18, 2005). "In Speeches, Miers Heaped Praise on President". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "Bush picks White House counsel for Supreme Court". CNN. October 4, 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- "Bush Works to Reassure G.O.P. Over Nominee for Supreme Court". The New York Times. October 9, 2005.
- ^ Greenburg 2008, p. 278.
- Greenburg 2008, pp. 278–279.
- ^ Greenburg 2008, p. 279.
- Greenburg 2008, p. 280.
- Greenburg 2008, p. 281.
- Greenburg 2008, pp. 280–281.
- Babington, Charles; Fletcher, Michael A. (October 20, 2005). "Senators Assail Miers's Replies, Ask for Details". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 24, 2005. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ Greenburg 2008, p. 282.
- Greenburg 2008, p. 284.
- "More controversy over Miers". CNN. October 18, 2005. Archived from the original on October 24, 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- "Transcript for October 23". Meet the Press. NBC News. October 23, 2005. Archived from the original on October 29, 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- "Senator: Miers Lacks Votes To Win". CBS News. October 23, 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2006. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- Markels, Alex (27 October 2005). "Why Miers Withdrew as Supreme Court Nominee". NPR.org.
- "Harriet Miers withdrawal letter". msnbc.com. October 27, 2005.
- "CNN.com - Miers withdraws Supreme Court nomination - Oct 28, 2005". edition.cnn.com.
- Cooper, Matthew (October 27, 2005). "Behind the Miers Withdrawal". Time. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- Glass, Andrew (October 31, 2013). "Bush nominates Alito, Oct. 31, 2005". Politico.
- "Bush's top lawyer Miers resigns". BBC. 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- Johnston, David and Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Gonzales Seems Confident He Will Stay, Officials Say The New York Times May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
- Baker, Peter; R. Jeffrey Smith (January 5, 2007). "Miers Steps Down As White House Gears Up for Battle". The New York Times. pp. A01. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
- Madway, Gabriel (January 4, 2007). "Miers Resigns As White House Counsel". Market Watch. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
- ^ Eggen, Dan; John Solomon (March 13, 2007). "Firings Had Genesis in White House Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show". The Washington Post. p. Page A01. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
- Stout, David (June 13, 2007). "Congress Subpoenas Miers and Another Former Bush Aide". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
- Marre, Klaus (June 13, 2007). "Specter endorses subpoena of White House official". The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
- "Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoena of Harriet Miers". Gonzales Watch. 2007-06-13. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
- Stout, David (July 25, 2007). "Panel Holds Two Bush Aides in Contempt". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
The House Judiciary Committee voted today to seek contempt of Congress citations against a top aide to President Bush and a former presidential aide over their refusal to cooperate in an inquiry about the firing of federal prosecutors.... president's chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers
- Shenon, Philip (February 15, 2008). "House Votes to Issue Contempt Citations". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- "Karl Rove, Harriet Miers To Testify Before House Judiciary Committee". HuffPost.
- Ed Wyatt and Simone Romero of The New York Times (August 29, 2010). "A BORN-AGAIN NOMINEE". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007.
External links
Political offices | ||
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Preceded byLisel Loy | White House Staff Secretary 2001–2003 |
Succeeded byBrett Kavanaugh |
Preceded byJoshua Bolten | White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy 2003–2005 |
Succeeded byKarl Rove |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded byAlberto Gonzales | White House Counsel 2005–2007 |
Succeeded byFred Fielding |
White House staff secretaries | ||
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White House counsels | ||
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