By JUSTIN ROOD
October 14, 2008
President Bush sidetracked a congressional probe by wrongly invoking executive privilege, according to a draft bipartisan congressional report released today.
The outing of former CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame, left, was the focus of a congressional probe. According to a draft bipartisan congressional report released Tuesday, President Bush sidetracked the investigation by wrongly withholding documents relating to Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the affair. (AP Photos)
This June, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee served a subpoena to the Justice Department for reports of interviews between FBI agents and Bush and Cheney.
The interviews had been conducted for former Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's probe into the outing of former CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame, which concluded last year. The House panel was conducting its own inquiry into the matter.
The White House objected to the committee's subpoenas, and the panel dropped its efforts to obtain the Bush transcript, the draft report said. But the committee said it reiterated its request for the Cheney report, even threatening a contempt citation for Attorney General Michael Mukasey if the document was not produced.
