Speaking of the Dems getting tough on White House scandals (see below), I wanted to follow up on something I mentioned two weeks ago.
Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) unveiled a resolution in late-January to authorize an independent House inquiry into the Plame Game scandal. Holt, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, seems to be under the impression that there’s a problem with the White House illegally leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent out of political spite. He and 11 other House Dems sponsored a resolution that would require the administration to turn over “all documents…relating to the disclosure of the identity of Valerie Plame” to the House for an official investigation.
Alas, House Republicans killed Holt’s reoslution in committee, but as The Hill noted today, even some GOP lawmakers seem troubled by the scandal.
Holt told The Hill that Republican lawmakers, including members of the House intelligence committee, have told him privately that he is “doing the right thing” in pushing for a Plame Game investigation in the House, but that they could not support his effort publicly because of pressure from GOP leaders.
Holt added that some of these Republicans “shifted their eyes to the Speaker’s chair” when saying they could not support his resolution when it was voted on in committee.
“Someone has decided that this is a partisan issue,” Holt said.
Ya think?
Fortunately, Holt isn’t giving up and is challenging Bush’s allies in the House to move forward. The GOP’s unswerving response to Dem demands for a formal inquiry is that the Department of Justice is already looking into the Plame Game scandal and, as such, a congressional investigation is unnecessary.
It’s an unpersuasive argument, to say the least. When Clinton was president, the House routinely held hearings — some times for weeks on end — on controversies that were being investigated by the Justice Department and an independent counsel. Then, the Congress operated under a “the more investigations the better” philosophy.
As Holt noted, it’s tantamount to saying that Congress should not have investigated Enron because the Securities and Exchange Commission already was looking into the matter.
No matter how much the Republicans stall, this one isn’t going away.