White House Obstructing Plame Investigation

The Bush Administration is actively blocking Congress' investigation into the outing of once-covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, according to House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman.

In a letter sent today to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Waxman notes that "White House objections are preventing Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald from disclosing key information to investigating officials." Among the documents being withheld are interviews taken from White House officers during Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of Plame's identity.

"Over the summer, Mr. Fitzgerald agreed to provide relevant documents to the Committee, including records of interviews with senior White House officials. Unfortunately, the White House has been blocking Mr. Fitzgerald from providing key documents to the Committee," Waxman writes to newly appointed Mukasey. "I ask that you personally look into this matter and authorize the production of the documents to the Committee without any further delay."

Waxman's letter provides one of the first tests for Mukasey, who stressed during his confirmation hearings that he would operate independently from White House directive. The letter also provides greater insight into the extent of collaboration between Fitzgerald and the oversight committee.

Read the full letter here. Emptywheel has more here.

Comments

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

I would invite all who read this, after you leave your comment to go to Rep. Conyers thread and leave a post on your feelings.
He is listening and all should write to him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-conyers/setting-the-record-straig_b_75448.html

[tomsthumb]

Are they trying to say they plead the 5th? They don't want to let the self-incriminating evidence of treason out.

[mamacat]

If the worst that could be said about Bush is that he is incompetent, or that he made some pretty bad mistakes, that alone would be a very strong indictment of a sitting President.

When one considers that tens of thousands of Iraqis, and thousands of Americans and allies, have died, and not just because of Bush's incompetence, but because of his lieing, his deceit, and his traitorous conduct, then one wonders if and when justice will ever be served.

[Abycat]

The Bush Administration is chock full of traitors. The most glaring example? The outing of a covert agent, Valerie Plame, in an effort to discredit her husband, Joe Wilson, who told the truth about 'yellow cake', Niger and Iraq.
I don't want Bush impeached. I want him tried for the crime of TREASON. If convicted? Execute him along with his partners in this crime against America.

[riverhorse]

imagine that republicans obstructing justice...­i thought that was part of the party platform.

[hglindquist]

The Democrat's congressional leaders are so focused on winning the 2008 election that they keep stumbling over what is in front of them. And the Keystone Kops that our politicians are, I'd probably be worried about crossing the road let alone the Rubicon.

But we can see the brilliant maneuvering of the Baker-Gates boys behind the scenes.

If the damn capital "D" Democrats had gone along with the bipartisan Baker-Hamilton report and withheld funding from any other strategy, we'd have rolled up this mess of Cheney's control over the Bush 43 administration a year ago AND have already started on the path to rational national behavior.

[SkiNut4]

I just wish Congress would stop pushing Bush to obstruct justice.

[Purple Girl]

IF WE'D IMPEACH THIS ADMIN, AND REVOKE & REPEAL ALL APPOINTMENTS AND LAWS, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM.

PICK A CRIME ANY CRIME THERES DOZENS TO CHOOSE FROM !!!

[Rubiconski]

Council on Foreign Relations

in other words" THE POWERS THAT BE"

Notable current Council members...­.

* Madeleine Albright (former United States Secretary of State)
* Sandy Berger (United States National Security Advisor under President Bill Clinton)
* Michael R. Bloomberg (Current Mayor of New York City)
* Bill Brock (former Republican United States Senator from Tennessee)
* Tom Brokaw
* Barack Hussein Obama
* Rudy Giuliani
* Rick Warren
* Edgar Bronfman (a member of the Bronfman dynasty, president of the World Jewish Congress)
* Ethan Bronner (deputy foreign editor of The New York Times)
* Zbigniew Brzezinski (United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter)
* Jonathan S. Bush (healthcare CEO, son of Jonathan Bush, brother of NBC entertainment reporter Billy Bush)
* Jimmy Carter
* Dick Cheney
* Warren Christopher (former United States Secretary of State)
* Bill Clinton
* Peggy Dulany (fourth child of David Rockefeller)
* Lawrence Eagleburger ( former United States Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush)
* Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
* Noah Feldman (academic and author)
* Mikhail Fridman (Russian oligarch, International Advisory Board member)
* Thomas Friedman (journalist, The New York Times)
* Robert M. Gates (United States Secretary of Defense, former Director of Central Intelligence)
* Leslie Gelb
* Alan Greenspan (former Chairman of the Federal Reserve)
* Gary Hart (former Democratic U.S. Senator representing Colorado, Council for a Livable World chairman, advisory board member for the Partnership for a Secure America)
* Chris Heinz (Heir to the H. J. Heinz Company ketchup fortune)
* Warren Hoge (American journalist)

* Vernon Jordan (close advisor to President William J. Clinton)
* Robert Kagan (cofounded Project for the New American Century)
* John Kerry
* Henry Kissinger
* Irving Kristol (founder of American neoconservatism, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute)
* Paula Zahn - news media, formerly an anchor on CNN
* John D. Negroponte (United States Deputy Secretary of State, former Director of National Intelligence, former U.S. ambassador to Honduras)
* Stan O'Neal (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Merrill Lynch)
* Henry Paulson (United States Treasury Secretary)
* Richard Pipes (father of founder/director of Middle East Forum Daniel Pipes)

[Rubiconski]

Council on Foreign Relations

in other words" THE POWERS THAT BE"

Notable current Council members...­... cont.

* Norman Podhoretz (former editor-in-chief of "Commentary", senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, Project for the New American Century (PNAC) signatory)
* Steve Poizner (California businessman and Republican politician)
* Colin Powell (former United States Secretary of State, former National Security Advisor, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
* Charles Prince (chief executive officer of Citigroup)
* Condoleezza Rice
* Keith A. Ridley, IV
* Alice Rivlin (economist, former U.S. cabinet member)
* David Rockefeller, Jr.
* John D. Rockefeller, IV
* Charlie Rose
* Karenna Gore Schiff (daughter of Al Gore)
* Brent Scowcroft (United States National Security Advisor under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush)
* George Shultz (former United States Secretary of State, former United States Secretary of the Treasury, former United States Secretary of Labor)
* Ron Silver (actor, director, producer, cofounded the organization One Jerusalem)
* Walter B. Slocombe (former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy)
* George Soros
* Jonathan Soros
* Lesley Stahl
* Fred Thompson (Actor, former Senator from Tenness

## Paul Wolfowitz (former president of the World Bank, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense)
# James Woolsey (former Director of Central Intelligence and former head of the Central Intelligence Agency)
# Robert Zoellick (President of the World Bank)

[imsosure]

And they call this politics, it's more like a poorly written sitcom full of bad actors and pathetic laugh tracks. Again I keep going back to the fact that this guys days are numbered and hopefully the people who can will do the right thing and have these treasonous bastards shot in a firing squad.

[mamacat]

Would any of the Republicans trying to win their party's nomination for president refuse to pardon Bush for crimes committed while in office? I would like to know.

[JimGroom]

No shit...rea­lly? What was the first clue?

[cruisepuppy7452a]

What part of treason don't they understand? What they are doing, is a violation of the law. Obstruction of justice is just that, a crime, and regardless of who you are, if you knowingly, intentionally do so, act in collusion with others to do so, you are in violation of the law. Presidents are not immune to federal indightments of this crime. Nobody can rewrite the law to suit thier crime or agenda to avoid penalty. What Bush and company are doing, have done is just that. Doing it was treason, and covering it up, interfering with an investigation, tampering with witnesses, evidence is a direct, federal, crime, punishable by law, and in this case, it is grounds for treason. Anytime you knowingly, intentionally out an op, be it a cop, CIA agent,ect. and it interferes, endangers them, thier family, or those whom they are working for, with, others in the field, its treason. Bush knew this, cheney knew it, Rove, Rumsfeld, they all knew it. It was intended to get her killed. It was a direct threat against her, her family, the CIA as a whole. It was meant to threaten them all. By that definition, it is grounds for treason. This goes way beyond impeachment grounds. The cover ups they are working hard to bury would implicate them in more than the election, more than the illegal war, it would also implicate them in the 911 attacks. Treason.

[12405]

Jeepers..I guess "The Deciderer" decided not to fire the source or the outer of Plame because he is still in office. I know, I know, he can pardon himself!
Listen, impeach this monkey now!!!!!!!!!!!!