[Update] This morning the House Judiciary Committee voted on a resolution to compel the Attorney General to share information about the Department of Justice investigation of the Valerie Plame leak. This resolution was opposed by every Republican voting, and was defeated on party lines, 15-11. When opposing this vote, Republicans explained that we should not look into a matter that is being investigated by the Justice Department. This excuse may sound like a broken record by now. That is not and has never been our standard. This year alone, Congress has held hearings on allegations of criminal misconduct in the United Nation's Oil-for-Food Program; the same misconduct being reviewed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Congress also has been looking into the Jack Abramoff scandal at the same time as the Justice Department. Let us not forget the endless hearings held in this Committee and others on alleged Clinton-Gore campaign finance violations, the Whitewater claims, and Clinton White House Travel Office firings. These were matters all under Justice Department review at the time of our hearings.
I am sure you are all aware that there were numerous House and Senate hearings on Watergate that were simultaneous with the Justice Department’s own investigation.
The International Relations Committee is debating its resolution right now, the webcast of which may be found at
http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/. There are two more House Committees that are expected to vote on resolutions addressing the Valerie Plame leak. On September 20, at a time TBA, the House Armed Services Committee will consider the same resolution. A webcast of the Committee proceedings may be found at http://www.house.gov/hasc/schedules/. There will also be a hearing tomorrow, September 15 at 1:00 PM in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, but this will be closed to the public.
This resolution is necessary because the Bush administration refuses to police itself in the midst of criminal and ethical misconduct. In July 2003, over two years ago, a Bush administration official committed one of the most serious breaches of national security in recent history by disclosing to the press the identity of an undercover CIA operative. Even worse, it likely was done for political reasons, to retaliate against the operative's husband for successfully challenging the President's claim that Iraq had sought nuclear materials in Africa.
The purpose of this resolution is to get to the bottom of what happened and why the Justice Department slow-walked the investigation at the beginning. We know that, despite urgent pleas from the CIA for a criminal investigation into the leaker, the Justice Department and White House dragged their feet. Then-Attorney General Ashcroft insisted on private briefings on the status despite his long-standing ties to Karl Rove, a person involved in the investigation. It is time for Congress to exercise its duty to oversee the Executive Branch.
We have no illusions that the Republicans in Congress are suddenly going to reverse course and start demanding accountability on this, or any other matter, that involves Bush Administration misconduct that is damaging to the nation. However, starting tommorrow, they will have to go on record and explain their votes defending criminal activity on the part of high ranking officials. That is the beginning of congressional accountability.