State Dept Stonewalls Waxman on Iraq CorruptionA new letter from House oversight committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice charges that State Department officials have refused to answer Congressional investigators’ questions about corruption in the Iraqi government unless the committee agrees not to disclose their answers.
That’s not all. In the letter, Waxman charges that State has instructed Blackwater not to cooperate with the committee’s inquiry into its operations in Iraq (more on that soon), and that Condoleezza Rice herself has refused to testify about either corruption within the Maliki government or any aspect of the Blackwater controversy.
Oversight investigators identified two State Department watchdogs, Vincent Faulk and Christopher Griffith, whom they sought to interview about corruption in the Maliki government. (David Corn recently unearthed some evidence for that contention.) A State Congressional liaison informed Waxman that the department had no objection — provided that their answers not be released to the public.
In an e-mail yesterday, State’s Joel Starr said that in the interests of retaining positive ties with the Maliki government, there were just a few things that couldn’t be aired publicly:
Broad statements/assessments which judge or characterize the quality of Iraqi governance or the ability/determination of the Iraqi government to deal with corruption, including allegations that investigations were thwarted/stifled for political reasons.Statements/allegations concerning actions by specific individuals, such as the Prime Minister or other [Iraqi] officials, or regarding investigations of such officials.
Waxman calls State’s position “absurd” and “ludicrous.” It means that Faulk couldn’t give an unclassified answer to investigators if they asked whether Maliki’s government is corrupt. For good measure, State subsequently classified a whole bunch of documents the committee had asked for, including internal assessments of Iraqi corruption.
Finally, Rice herself, through staff, told Waxman that she won’t testify about her role in Iraqi reconciliation — which, after all, is supposed to be what ends the war. Apparently Rice’s aides told the committee that she has some “other interest” in testifying before a different congressional panel, thereby precluding an appearance before the House oversight committee. Waxman, again, isn’t having it: he requested Rice to order her staff to cooperate with the corruption investigation; release Blackwater from its gag order; and to pencil in some time for the committee next month.