WASHINGTON, July 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush's former counsel, Harriet Miers, might face contempt of Congress charges after she refused to testify -- at Bush's order -- on Thursday before a House panel investigating the firings of several federal prosecutors last year.

    A House Judiciary subcommittee voted 7-5 on Thursday rejected Bush's claim that executive privilege allowed Miers not to attend its hearing over the dismissals.

    "I hereby rule that those claims are not legally valid, and that Ms. Miers is required pursuant to the subpoena to be here now and to produce documents and answer questions," subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat, said.

    The panel's vote cleared the way for the Judiciary Committee and House to pursue contempt proceedings against Miers, but the White House would not back down.

    "If the House Judiciary Committee wants to avoid confrontation, it should withdraw its subpoenas," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

    He accused the committee of "rejecting accommodation because they prefer just the kind of political spectacle they're engaged in now."

    The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Miers last month asking for her testimony in its investigation into the firings of nine federal prosecutors last year. The Senate Judiciary Committee also issued a subpoena to Sara Taylor, Bush's former political adviser, in its own investigation.

    Taylor went to the Senate to answer lawmakers' questions about the firings. But she said she would follow directions from Bush and answered only limited questions.

    Nine federal prosecutors were fired last year, most of them after the mid-term congressional elections in November, which lawmakers said might be politically-motivated instead of what the Justice Department has claimed to be performance-related.

    While administration officials said the attorneys were ousted over concern about their performance, lawmakers suspected that they were targeted because they had not carried out the political agenda of the Republican Party, particularly before the mid-term elections last November.

    Both the Senate and the House were investigating the firings, but the Bush administration invoked executive privilege early this week to refuse requests by Congress that Miers and Taylor testify in the probes.