Waxman Demanding FBI White House Interviews

(Via Memeorandum.) A report from ThinkProgress indicates that Congressman Henry Waxman (D – Calif 110) in his position as chairman of the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has issued a letter to Atty. General Mukasey requesting that he turn over transcripts of interviews conducted by the FBI with President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The interviews were conducted as part of the investigation regarding Scooter Libby and and Valerie Plame.

New revelations by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan raise additional questions about the actions of the President and the Vice President. Mr. McClellan has stated that “[t]he 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.

At this late stage, it’s rather hard to tell how much of this is a new, valid line of investigation into the Plame case or how much might be political theater in a very high profile election year. Further, given the lack of luck most Democrats have enjoyed in getting the White House to release anything they don’t want to, the productivity of such a move is in question. In any event, we’ll stay on top of this story, as the White House response (in whatever form it takes) is likely to be more informative than the ongoing investigation.