White House executive privilege ruling [US Senate Judiciary Comm.] News
White House executive privilege ruling [US Senate Judiciary Comm.]

Ruling on the White House's Claims of Executive Privilege and Immunity Made in Response to Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoenas, US Senate Judiciary Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, November 29, 2007 [rejecting White House assertions of executive privilege in the ongoing congressional investigations into the US Attorneys firing scandal, and directing the White House to comply with formal committee subpoenas for documents and the testimony of White House aides]. Read the full text of the ruling [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US House voted to impeach President Clinton

On December 19, 1998, a divided US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on charges of lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Read the Articles of Impeachment.

UK signs Hong Kong over to China

On December 19, 1984, the United Kingdom and China signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which ceded control of Hong Kong to the government of mainland China in 1997. The treaty also ensured that Hong Kong would retain its capitalist and democratic systems for at least 50 years after the transfer of power.