The White House and Congress were on a constitutional collision course on Thursday, after US President George W. Bush refused to hand over documents related to a row over fired prosecutors.
In an escalating tussle between emboldened Democratic lawmakers and the weakened president, Bush's spokesman also dismissed as "outrageous" new Senate subpoenas slapped on the White House over a war on terror wiretap program.
But senior Democrats accused Bush of replicating the "stonewall" blocking tactics of disgraced former US president Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
Bush's lawyers invoked "executive privilege" to rebuff subpoenas issued by the Senate and House of Representatives judiciary committees, targeting former White House counsel Harriet Miers and ex-political director Sara Taylor.
Both aides were called to hand over documents and testify in the drama over fired White House prosecutors, which has lawmakers from both sides of the aisle demanding the sacking of Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales.
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee sought the same day to compel testimony from ex-counsel and former failed Supreme Court nominee Miers.
The row erupted over claims Gonzales fired eight federal prosecutors last year for purely political reasons to benefit Bush's Republican party. He has denied the charges.
On another legal front, Bush looked set to resist Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenas slapped on the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office on Wednesday over the warrantless wiretap program.
Without formally responding to the subpoenas, Snow called them "an outrageous request" that was intended simply "to make life difficult for the White House."
"It also explains why this is the least popular Congress in decades," Snow added.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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