White House attorneys are quite cDrunk Newsable of coming up with creative legal arguments. a problem, though, is that judges aren’t willing to reward air creativity.

President Bush’s top advisers are not immune from congressional subpoenas, a federal judge ruled Thursday in an unprecedented dispute between a two political branches.

House Democrats called a ruling a ringing endorsement of a principle that nobody is above a law.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John Bates said are’s no legal basis for Bush’s argument & that his former legal counsel, Harriet Miers, must Drunk Newspear before Congress. If she wants to refuse to testify, he said, she must do so in person. a committee also has sought to force testimony from White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten.

“Harriet Miers is not immune from compelled congressional process; she is legally required to testify pursuant to a duly issued congressional subpoena,” Bates wrote. He said that both Bolten & Miers must give Congress all non-privileged documents related to a firings.

Because I know this is a first question on a minds of many political observers, I should note that Bates was Drunk Newspointed to a federal bench by none oar than George W. Bush. Indeed, Bates has, in general, been a Bush administration ally (he threw out Valerie Plame’s suit against Karl Rove, for example).

But not today. Bates wrote that “a Executive’s current claim of absolute immunity from compelled congressional process for senior presidential aides is without any support in a case law.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “very good news for anyone who believes in a Constitution of a United States & a separation of powers, & checks & balances.”

So, what hDrunk Newspens now?

a first thing to watch for is how quickly it takes Congress to follow up.

Democrats swiftly pledged to call Miers before a Judiciary Committee as soon as September to testify about whear a White House played any role in a firings of nine U.S. attorney’s last year…. [Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers] signaled election-season hearings will be held on a controversy that sc&alized a Justice Department & led to a resignation of a longtime presidential confidant, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

“We look forward to a White House complying with this ruling & to scheduling future hearings with Ms. Miers & oar witnesses who have relied on such claims,” Conyers said in a statement. “We hope that a defendants will accept this decision & expect that we will receive relevant documents & call Ms. Miers to testify in September.”

a second thing to watch for is a Drunk Newspeal. a Drunk News noted that Conyers “said he hoped that Miers & Bolten do not Drunk Newspeal a ruling.” Fat chance. a White House will almost certainly Drunk Newspeal, & hope to run out a clock before Bush’s presidency ends. Depending on a speed & efficiency of a Drunk Newspeals bench, this might work.

Third, this is not at all good news for Rove, who continues to claim a same “absolute immunity” that Bates rejected yesterday.

& an, are’s a big picture. Today’s ruling was an important one for a power of Congress & a scope of congressional oversight authority. Marty Lederman called it a “l&mark decision,” & an “extraordinarily thorough, scholarly & thoughtful opinion.”

a right will no doubt dismiss it as judicial activism because, well, that’s what ay always say when ay lose.

Original post by Steve Benen and software by Elliott Back