July 30 (Bloomberg) -- A House panel voted to hold former White House political director Karl Rove in contempt for defying a subpoena to testify about whether politics motivated the prosecution of the former governor of Alabama.

The House Judiciary Committee's 20-14 vote along party lines escalated the dispute between the Bush administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress over lawmakers' demands for testimony by presidential aides.

``Mr. Rove refuses to testify, based on legally invalid claims of immunity and privilege,'' Michigan Democrat John Conyers, the panel's chairman, said in a statement.

President George W. Bush has invoked executive privilege to bar his aides from testifying under oath in Congress about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. The president also barred Rove's testimony on the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

The panel has asked a federal judge to order Bush's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, to turn over documents about the firings and to direct former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify about them.

A contempt citation against Rove would require approval by the full House. Rove failed to appear at a July 10 hearing.

Rove has denied influencing the decision to prosecute Siegelman. He offered to answer the committee's questions in writing or to testify in private without a transcript. Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, told the committee in a July 9 letter that Bush had directed his client not to testify.

`Any Forum'

Conyers said Rove ``seems willing to speak about these subjects in almost any forum other than answering questions before members of this committee, and that is simply unacceptable.''

Texas Representative Lamar Smith, the panel's top Republican, said in prepared remarks that a contempt citation was the committee's ``version of a Salem witch trial of Karl Rove.'' Smith said there is no basis to question Rove because ``there is no evidence'' that Siegelman's prosecution was driven by political considerations.

The Justice Department's internal ethics watchdog unit is investigating whether Siegelman was the victim of selective prosecution.

Siegelman is appealing his political corruption conviction and seven-year prison term for accepting a bribe from HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy. A federal appeals court in March ordered Siegelman's release from prison on bail.

Political Considerations

Also today, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said former Justice Department officials should be punished for breaking the law by using political considerations in hiring career lawyers. The agency's inspector general, Glenn Fine, told the panel there wasn't a sufficient basis to prosecute them.

A report Fine issued two days ago said senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales committed misconduct and violated civil hiring laws. Fine singled out Gonzales's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, and Monica Goodling, the department's liaison with the White House. Both have left the agency.

Fine's report prompted calls by some lawmakers for a review of whether Goodling and Sampson committed perjury in congressional testimony.

Fine said they could be sanctioned by bar associations but that his staff had determined there wasn't evidence to justify charging them with lying to congressional committees or investigators.

`Been Exposed'

``They have been exposed,'' Fine said, adding that he thought Goodling and Sampson were unlikely to ever work again in the federal government.

``We do not believe that the conduct that we found in our report constituted a criminal violation,'' Fine told the panel. ``It was a violation of civil law and department policy.''

The conclusion didn't sit well with committee Democrats who said Fine's investigation showed that ideological decision-making has pervaded the agency during the Bush administration.

``Such blatant politicization'' without any criminal penalty ``sticks in many people's craws,'' said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat who has led the committee's investigation into the agency's firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

Schumer suggested federal law should be changed so repeated violations of civil service hiring rules can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

To contact the reporters on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net; Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 30, 2008 15:39 EDT