http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1293

Friday, May 04, 2007

Iraq Intelligence and Nuclear Evidence, Correspondence Regarding the
Testimony of Secretary Rice

Committee Seeks Niger Documents and Testimony and Instructs State Department
Not to Impede Probe


Today Chairman Waxman sent a letter to Secretary of State Rice (1) informing
the Secretary that the legislative affairs officials in the Department
should not hinder the Committee's inquiry into why Secretary Rice and
President Bush cited forged evidence to build a case for war against Iraq;
(2) advising the Secretary that the Committee will depose a nuclear weapons
analyst at the State Department; and (3) requesting relevant documents.

Read his letter here:

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070504103823.pdf

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Waxman to Rice: Step Back

By Paul Kiel - May 4, 2007, 12:55 PM

Here's the latest volley in the ongoing battle between Rep. Henry Waxman
(D-CA) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Waxman, the chairman of the House committee on oversight, wrote to Secretary
of State Condoleeza Rice today to complain that State Department officials
had attempted to prevent a nuclear weapons anaylst at the department from
speaking with his staff. This comes after Waxman's committee issued a
subpoena last week for Rice's testimony on how she dealt with claims before
the war that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger. Rice has said that she
won't comply with the subpoena.

Waxman said that when his staff sought to meet with Simon Dodge, a nuclear
weapons analyst at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and
Research, a State Department official called and objected. According to
Waxman, the official "informed Committee staff that you [Rice] were
prohibiting Mr. Dodge from meeting with Committee investigators. This
official claimed that allowing Mr. Dodge to speak with Committee staff would
be 'inappropriate' because the Committee voted to issue a subpoena to compel
your attendance at a hearing on your knowledge of the fabricated evidence."

Waxman wants to speak to Dodge because he raised alarms about the Niger
evidence two weeks before President Bush cited it in his State of the Union
address in 2003.

Waxman said he was giving Rice the benefit of the doubt:

I assume that your legislative staff was acting without your authorization
in this matter. It would be a matter of great concern - as well as an
obvious conflict of interest - if vou had directed your staff to impede a
congressional investigation into matter that may implicate your conduct as
National Security Advisor. Waxman informed Rice that the committee would be
interviewing Dodge next week.

And he also requested several documents from Rice "relating to the claim
that Iraq sought uranium from Africa."