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Waxman: White House Blocking Release of Plame Investigation Docs
Another test for Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
In a letter to Mukasey today, House sleuth Henry Waxman (D-CA) said that the White House has prevented former Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald from turning over records of his interviews during the Valeria Plame leak investigation of White House officials, including the President.
In July, Waxman said, Fitzgerald agreed to turn over the documents to Waxman's House oversight committee, along with documents from his interviews with State Department and CIA officials. But though he's turned those other documents over to the committee, the White House has prevented the release of his records of the White House interviews.
In the letter, Waxman urges Mukasey to ignore the White House's position, saying that "the role of the Attorney General is to administer the laws with impartiality." During the Clinton Administration, he writes, Janet Reno "made an independent judgment and provided numerous FBI interview reports to the Committee, including reports of interviews with President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and three White House Chiefs of Staff." Apparently the Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales had agreed to the White House's request to keep the documents from Congress. Waxman wants to know if things will change now that there's a new boss.
Waxman had requested transcripts or other documents relating to Fitzgerald's interviews of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Andrew Card, Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, Dan Bartlett, and Scott McClellan. Fitzgerald is prepared to turn over at least some of these, Waxman writes, though it's unclear which.
Comments (15)
Don't hold your breath, Hank. Mukasey is Bush's butt-boy, just like Al was.
December 3, 2007 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure Mukasey will turn over the requested documents. Remember, Dianne Feinstein said that he's the best AG we're likely to get.
December 3, 2007 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Strongs words are sure to follow in a separate envelope.
December 3, 2007 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
"In the letter, Waxman urges Mukasey to ignore the White House's position, saying that "the role of the Attorney General is to administer the laws with impartiality."
"Impartiality"? The entire United States is laughing. The White House has nothing to fear.
Republicans aren't going to support any turn overs. The Democrats cave in to Mukaseys nomination was no accident and intentionally guaranteed there will be no worth while investigations.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
The Democrats cave in to Mukaseys nomination was no accident.
December 3, 2007 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Henry forgot to say "pretty please, with sugar on top?"
No matter. The WH na ga doit.
December 3, 2007 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Emptywheel had this earlier this AM. But of course, she always seems to be a little ahead of everyone else on these Plame related stories.
December 3, 2007 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
The media's lack of coverage of this story only demonstrates yet again the fact of conservative media bias.
Had this been clinton the coverage would be 24/7 for a full week as top story.
December 3, 2007 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
One dead tree and a bunch of wasted toner is the end result of this Waxman inquiry.
December 3, 2007 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
PFJ - are you kidding me? If this were Clinton it would have been on the news all week? If this were someone from the Clinton administration outing a covert agent, this wouldn't just be on the news, the GOP would be pushing for treason charges as forcefully as possible!
December 3, 2007 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gosh, didn't I read this somewhere else this morning? Where might that be? Oh, that's right,
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/03/waxman-still-after-fitzs-fbi-files/
at 7:44am
December 3, 2007 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mukasey was vetted by the Bush gang before he was nominated. What do you think he'll do, go with Bush or go with Waxman?
December 3, 2007 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who cares who was first? The point is that there is some reporting with teeth and a bit of clout. Maybe scooping is something that TPM reporters think about, but personally I don't care. If blog X has some details, and blog Y has some details, and they cite and cross-link each other back and forth, that's terrific.
December 3, 2007 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kevin, you are correct. But where is the TPM-M cross-linking to emptywheel? No back-and-forth that I can see....
December 3, 2007 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
. . . And Mukasey is the guy that Senator Obama said he could not be bothered to go to Washington DC and vote against or raise his voice to filibuster . . . That Senator Obama vote was nothing in the face of human rights and Congress obligations to the people . . . Good going Senator Obama.
December 3, 2007 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
oK Dennis, Walrus & jolly ranchero - please ,please remember that the Busheviks make a big mistake "mis-underestimating " Congressman Waxman's tenacity & deep seated commitment to the checks & balances that keep our Constitution a living breathing & VIABLE document for democratic self governance.
Bushcheney and all the Trolls in Trollsville also should not necessarily bank on Mukasey being another toady Attorney General .
This is far , far from over ...meanwhile all interested parties might want to go and google "Saturday Night Massacre " - history does have a nasty habit of repeating itself .
( And yes in a broad historical context it might just be possible that IRAQ is Arabic for Vietnam -)
December 3, 2007 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink