Waxman Asks Mukasey for Libby Papers

House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) is asking new Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey to release transcripts of interviews of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other senior officials from the now-completed CIA leak investigation.

Waxman, who has been investigating the nature of the revelation of former CIA analyst Valerie Plame Wilson's identity in the summer of 2003, asked Mukasey in a letter released on Monday to intervene in his dispute with the White House, saying that Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald has already turned over notes and transcripts of non-grand-jury interviews with CIA and State Department officials.

But, Waxman said, Fitzgerald has been blocked by the White House from releasing the documents.

Former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of four charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the leak investigation, but his federal prison sentence was later commuted by Bush.

Waxman said that, with the investigation closed, release of these interview documents cannot interfere with an ongoing investigation. During the Clinton administration, Waxman said, the White House turned over to Congress dozens of FBI interview documents related to the most senior officials, including President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

The White House and Justice Department declined to comment yesterday about the Waxman letter, as did Fitzgerald's office.