Henry Waxman's letter to Mukasey Demanding FBI Interview Transcripts in Plame Case

HENRY A. WAXMAN, CALIFORNIA,
CHAIRMAN

The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

On December 3,2007, I wrote to request that you arrange for the production of
documents relating to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of the
covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson, including copies of FBI interview reports of
White House officials. I appreciate that you have since made redacted versions of the interview
reports of Karl Rove, 1. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and other senior White House officials available
to the Committee.

I am writing now to renew the Committee's request for the interview reports with
President Bush and Vice President Cheney and to request unredacted versions of the interviews
with Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Condoleezza Rice, Scott McClellan, and Cathie Martin. I also
request that the Department provide all other responsive documents that were approved for
release to the Committee by Mr. Fitzgerald.

In his interview with the FBI, Mr. Libby stated that it was "possible" that Vice President
Cheney instructed him to disseminate information about Ambassador Wilson's wife to the
press. This is a significant revelation and, if true, a serious matter. It cannot be responsibly
investigated without access to the Vice President's FBI interview.

The interviews with senior White House officials also raise other questions about the
involvement of the Vice President. It appears from the interview reports that Vice President
Cheney personally may have been the source of the information that Ms. Wilson worked for the
CIA. Mr. Libby specifically identified the Vice President as the source of his information about
Ms. Wilson. None of the other White House officials could remember how they learned this
information.

New revelations by fonner White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan raise additional
questions about the actions of the President and the Vice President. Mr. McClellan has stated
that "the President and Vice President directed me to go out there and exonerate Scooter
Libby." He has also asserted that "the top White House officials who knew the truth including
Rove, Libby, and possibly Vice President Cheney - allowed me, even encouraged
me, to repeat a lie." It would be a major breach of trust if the Vice President personally
directed Mr. McClellan to mislead the public.

In his FBI interview, Mr. McClellan told the FBI about discussions he had with the
President and the Vice President. These passages, however, were redacted from the copies made
available to the Committee. Similar passages were also redacted from other interviews.
There are no sound reasons for you to withhold the interviews with the President and the
Vice President from the Committee or to redact passages like Mr. McClellan's discussions with
the President and the Vice President. Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation is closed and he has
indicated that it would be appropriate to share these records with the Committee. There has been
no assertion of executive privilege.

Moreover, withholding these documents would create an unfortunate double standard.
During the Clinton Administration, the Committee requested the records of FBI interviews with
President Clinton and Vice President Gore in 1997 and 1998 as part of the Committee's
campaign finance investigation. These records were turned over to the Committee by the Justice
Department without any consultation with the White House.

The Committee is conducting an important investigation to answer questions that Mr.
Fitzgerald's criminal inquiry did not address. As I explained at the Committee's hearing last
year, the purpose of the Committee's investigation is to examine:
(1) How did such a serious violation of our national security occur? (2) Did the White
House take appropriate investigative and disciplinary steps after the breach occurred?
And (3) what changes in White House security procedures are necessary to prevent future
violations of our national security from occurring?

The infonnation that you are withholding may hold answers to these questions. The FBI
interview reports that you have shared with the Committee raise the possibility that Vice
President Cheney may be implicated in the release of Ms. Wilson's identity. Mr. McClellan's
recent disclosures indicate that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney played a role in
directing the White House response. The Committee cannot complete its inquiry into these
matters without receiving the reports of their FBI interviews.

I therefore urge you to follow Justice Department precedents and provide the records of
the FBI interviews with President Bush and Vice President Cheney to the Committee by June 10.
I also ask that you provide to the Committee, at the same time, the unredacted interviews with
Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Condoleezza Rice, Scott McClellan, and Cathie Martin, as well as the
other responsive records requested by the Committee.

If you have any questions, please contact me personally or ask your staff to contact David
Rapallo or Theodore Chuang ofthe Committee staff at (202) 225-5420.

Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Chairman
cc: Tom Davis
Ranking Minority Member

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080603095914.pdf