Waxman Calls For Hearing On Rove

Monday, July 11, 2005 -- Rep. Waxman says White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove should testify under oath about his role in identifying Valerie Plame as a CIA agent. Letter to Tom Davis, Chairman of Committee on Government Reform Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing regarding recent reports that provide new details about the involvement of Karl Rove, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, in the disclosure of Valerie Plame's identity as an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. An article in the Washington Post this morning and recent disclosures in Newsweek and other reports are extraordinary. If true, they indicate that the President's top political advisor played a central role in the outing of a covert CIA agent. According to the Washington Post account, Mr. Rove's attorney insists that Mr. Rove did not identify Ms. Plame "by name." But Mr. Rove did identify her as the spouse of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, which would seem to be a distinction without a difference. The new disclosures also raise issues about whether Mr. Rove acted alone or whether there was a conspiracy with other White House staff to use classified information for the political purpose of discrediting Ambassador Wilson. I first wrote to you to request a hearing about this matter on September 29, 2003, and I renewed my request in a second letter on December 11, 2003. During this period, we met with Ambassador Wilson, but you turned down my request for a hearing because you wanted to see what the investigation of Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald would uncover. The recent disclosures about Mr. Rove's actions have such serious implications that we can no longer responsibly ignore them. The intentional disclosure of a covert CIA agent's identity would be an act of treason. If there were evidence of such a serious breach during the Clinton Administration, there is no doubt that our Committee would have immediately demanded that the Deputy Chief of Staff testify at a hearing. This would have been the right course of action then, and it is the right course now. For this reason, I am renewing my request that the Committee schedule an immediate hearing at which Mr. Rove is called to testify. A congressional hearing at which Mr. Rove testifies under oath remains the simplest and most effective means for Congress and the public to learn the truth about this disgraceful incident. I congratulate Rep. Waxman for this, but you and I both know as long as the Republicans control all committees, the chances of this happening are slim to none.