WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House Judiciary Committee on Monday filed a lawsuit against White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers aimed at forcing them to provide information about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten has refused to testify in the House Judiciary Committee probe.
The White House promptly labeled the suit "partisan theater."
The suit follows Attorney General Michael Mukasey's announcement last month that the Justice Department would not pursue criminal contempt charges against Miers and Bolten over their refusal to testify or provide documents to the House Judiciary Committee.
In a 36-page filing, attorneys for the House asked the U.S. District Court in Washington to compel Miers "forthwith to appear and testify before the committee" and to "enjoin Ms. Miers and Mr. Bolten forthwith to produce to the committee ... all responsive documents."
The filing said the documents demanded are "critical to the investigation" of White House political involvement in the firings.
The White House had invoked "executive privilege" on behalf of Miers and Bolten in refusing to heed the demands of the committee, setting up a classic battle between the executive and legislative branches of government.
Both sides expressed confidence they would prevail in the coming court battle.
"The House is taking action today to uphold the rule of law and to protect our constitutional system of checks and balances," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "The Bush administration cannot conceal information and prevent Congress from carrying out its oversight and lawmaking responsibilities."
In a statement, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said, "We will not allow the administration to steamroll Congress."
Conyers, who led the fight to subpoena Miers and Bolten, added, "I do not take this step lightly. Unfortunately, this administration simply will not negotiate toward a compromise resolution, so we must proceed."
The White House chalked the lawsuit up to politics.
"It's been almost a year of wrangling on that front, and now they've continued to focus on partisan theater," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "The confidentiality the president receives from his senior advisers and the constitutional principle of separation of powers must be protected from overreaching, and we are confident the courts will agree with us."
The White House has said the firings of the U.S. attorneys were legal. But Democrats said the central questions behind the dismissals -- who decided the prosecutors should be ousted and why -- remain unanswered.
Critics of the move have said prosecutors who were not sufficiently supportive of Bush were targeted.
Pelosi had asked Mukasey to look into whether Bolten and Miers committed contempt of Congress in the investigation into the firings.
Pelosi said the two were unresponsive to Congress' inquiry, while the White House has argued that contempt laws don't apply to the president or any of his staffers who invoke executive privilege.
Mukasey, a Bush appointee, agreed.
"The department has determined that the noncompliance by Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers with the Judiciary Committee subpoenas did not constitute a crime," Mukasey wrote in a February 29 letter to Pelosi.
"Therefore the department will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers."
Mukasey's response drew quick criticism from Pelosi and other Democrats.
"By ordering the U.S. attorney to take no action in response to congressional subpoenas, the Bush administration is continuing to politicize law enforcement, which undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system," Pelosi said in a statement. E-mail to a friend 
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