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

By Al Kamen
Friday, April 13, 2007

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.

Turns out Mulally has now apologized. No, not for saving Bush's life, but for making up the story, which he told reporters last week at the New York auto show. The yarn was first reported by the Detroit News, then picked up by others, including the Financial Times.

Mulally, in a statement, said he'd seen a humorous video of the "plug-in demonstration" and "I tried to tell a joke about it. It never occurred to me that it would get such wide play or be taken seriously."

Mulally did lead Bush over to the vehicle, a Ford spokesman said, but Bush was never in any danger.

Another Ford official said that Mulally, who was paid $28 million in his first four months running the company, has "a great sense of humor."

Well, he can afford it.

Snow 'Really Doing Well'

Update and good news from the White House about spokesman Tony Snow, who's on leave battling a recurrence of colon cancer.

Deputy press secretary Dana Perino told reporters that she talked to Snow Wednesday morning and that "he is really doing well. He is so optimistic, but not only that, he has recovered almost fully from the surgery, and he's really optimistic about his choices for treatment -- that he's not ready to announce yet, but it sounds very encouraging."

Meanwhile, Catholic University says Snow will be the school's commencement speaker on May 12.

Prince Not-So-Charming?

Far from the heat in the Saudi desert, things have gotten a bit chilly of late here in Washington for our old friend Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Bandar, former longtime ambassador to Washington and now national security adviser to King Abdullah, had been shuttling back and forth from Riyadh on roughly a monthly basis.

Then it seemed he was showing up increasingly on a weekly basis, to schmooze at the highest levels of the White House. But since Abdullah made that crack last month at an Arab League summit about the United States' "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq, the Bush administration's patience has apparently worn a bit thin.