A Letter Is No Substitute for a Personal Chat, Waxman Tells Rice

The tussling between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, shows no signs of letting up.

A couple of weeks ago, Waxman sent a letter to Rice saying she hadn't responded to his many letters requesting information about the administration's bogus claims that Iraq wanted to buy uranium from Niger, how it handled classified information and such. So Waxman invited her to come up to the Hill on April 18 to talk about this.

The State Department last week issued what a spokesman called a "thorough and comprehensive" reply that should "obviate the need" for a hearing.

Apparently not. Waxman has written back saying he wants specific answers about what Rice knew and when she knew it about the Niger uranium claim and other issues.

"Rather than address any of these questions," Waxman wrote, the department's letter included "copies of two old State Department letters that have no bearing whatsoever on your knowledge of, your role in, or your statements about the Niger claim."

"Because of the inadequacies" of the response, Waxman said, "the committee will not withdraw the invitation for you to testify on April 18."

We heard yesterday that folks at Foggy Bottom are preparing a lengthy reply that addresses all this stuff and remains hopeful this can be worked out.

Still, might want to line up early for good seats.

She Ought to Be in Pictures

Speaking of the House oversight committee, it's not often that someone below the rank of Cabinet member can merit a cameo appearance in a syndicated cartoon. But General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan, apparently to the amusement of some folks at the GSA, has won that unusual distinction, becoming a thinly disguised amnesiac in the cartoon Candorville.

Doan won the high honor after she repeatedly told the committee on March 28 that she could not remember details of a Jan. 26 videoconference presentation for top political appointees at her agency by White House deputy political director J. Scott Jennings, who works in Karl Rove's shop.

One slide in the presentation was about targeting 20 congressional Democrats in the 2008 elections. Doan said she couldn't remember asking appointees what they could do to "help our candidates." Several others there recall her saying that. Waxman said the videoconference at the GSA may have violated a law against political activity at federal workplaces.

Ford CEO Backtracks on Bush Rescue

Remember the fun item in Wednesday's column about how Ford Motor Co. chief executive Alan Mulally boasted about saving President Bush's life on March 26? He said he grabbed him and stopped him from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of a hybrid car at the White House.