Former White House counsel Harriet Miers will not appear Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee, her attorney said, pointing to a directive from the White House that says she should disobey a subpoena from the panel.

In a letter made available Wednesday, Miers’s attorney George Manning informed House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and House Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) that White Counsel Fred Fielding has instructed him that Miers’s testimony is protected under executive privilege and that she therefore does not need to appear at the hearing.

The letter also cited a 1999 opinion by former Attorney General Janet Reno stating that “subjecting a senior presidential advisor to the congressional subpoena power would be akin to requiring the president himself to appear before Congress on matters relating to his constitutionally assigned functions.”

Sanchez said Wednesday it is “disappointing” that Bush asserted executive privilege and noted that the White House had previously offered, with several restrictions, to make Miers available to the committee.

“The White House had previously offered to allow Ms. Miers to talk with our committee — without an oath or transcription — so I presume that her testimony is not a grave threat to the health of the executive branch,” she said.

Sanchez and Conyers also pointed out that former White House political director Sara Taylor testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee despite the president asserting executive privilege over specific aspects of her testimony. While Taylor refused to answer some questions, citing executive privilege, she nevertheless answered other questions, Sanchez and Conyers noted.

Conyers and Sanchez wasted little time in criticizing the White House decision, sending a letter to Fielding Wednesday questioning the counsel’s justifications for asserting executive privilege.

“We are aware of absolutely no court decision that supports the notion that a former White House official has the option of refusing to even appear in response to a Congressional subpoena,” they wrote, “To the contrary, the courts have made clear that no present or former government official — even the president — is above the law and may completely disregard a legal directive such as the Committee’s subpoena.

 “A refusal to appear before the Subcommittee tomorrow could subject Ms. Miers to contempt proceedings,” including being held under contempt of Congress, they added.