3 p.m. deadline Monday for White House to reveal plans for subpoenaed documents in U. S. attorneys case

With the upcoming change of administration, the scandal surrounding the firing of numerous U. S. attorneys in 2006 by the Bush administration has long ago been pushed off the front pages, but the case is far from over.

A federal judge has ordered White House officials to submit documents by 3 p.m. Monday indicating whether records which have been subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee will be preserved and accessible when the Obama administration takes over in two weeks. Committee members (at least the ones on the Democratic side) naturally expect the documents to vanish Jan. 20 when President Bush leaves office.

The judge asked the Bush administration for answers to the following:

First, will defendants preserve and retain a complete set of materials responsive to the subpoenas at the Department of Justice for transfer to the incoming Attorney General and his staff? Second, will defendants preserve and retain a complete set of materials responsive to the subpoenas at the White House for transfer to the incoming White House Counsel and his staff? If necessary, the Court will hold a conference at 9 A.M. on January 8, 2009 to address the issues raised in plaintiff's motion.

The committee is seeking materials from White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, according to court documents.

The Judiciary Committee investigation is looking into whether U. S. attorneys were fired for investigating officials who were friendly to the Bush administration, not investigating political opponents of the Bush administration, or not creating cases designed to show voter fraud was taking place.