UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM — MINORITY STAFF
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION
JANUARY 17, 2006
CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT OF THE
BUSH ADMINISTRATION
PREPARED FOR
REP. HENRY A. WAXMANTABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................1
I. MANIPULATION OF IRAQ INTELLIGENCE...............................................................................2
II. TREATMENT OF DETAINEES.............................................................................................5
III. LEAK OF A COVERT CIA AGENT’S STATUS..........................................................................7
IV. AWARD OF HALLIBURTON CONTRACTS ..............................................................................9
V. WHITE HOUSE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE KATRINA RESPONSE ..............................................10
VI. SECRET NSA WIRETAPS ...............................................................................................11
VII. VICE PRESIDENT’S ENERGY TASK FORCE.........................................................................12
VIII. WITHHOLDING OF MEDICARE COST ESTIMATES ..............................................................13
IX. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AT MULTIPLE FEDERAL AGENCIES AND THE WHITE HOUSE.................14
X. POLITICIZATION OF THE FEDERAL SCIENCE-BASED AGENCIES ..............................................15
XI. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ENFORCEMENT OF VOTING RIGHTS LAWS ..........................................16
XII. CONTRACT ABUSES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY .....................................17
XIII. INFLUENCE OF LOBBYISTS AT EPA ................................................................................18
XIV. INFLUENCE OF TOBACCO INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS ON U.S. TOBACCO POLICIES ........................19
XV. FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT’S CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES..............19
Snip (pg. 1)
This report identifies 15 key oversight issues involving President Bush and his Administration that Congress has failed to investigate. They are:
• The role of the White House in manipulating intelligence about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda;
• The responsibility of senior Administration officials for the abuse of detainees;
• The role of White House officials in leaking the identity of a covert CIA agent;
• The role of the Vice President’s office in the award of Halliburton contracts;
• The responsibility of senior White House officials in the failed response to Hurricane Katrina;
• The secret wiretapping of U.S. citizens by the National Security Agency;
• The identity of the energy industry contributors who met with the Vice President’s energy task force;
• The role of the White House in withholding key Medicare cost estimates from Congress;
• Evidence of conflicts of interest at multiple federal agencies and the White House;
• The increasing politicization of science-based federal agencies;
• The failure of the Department of Justice to enforce voting rights laws;
• Contract abuses at the Department of Homeland Security;
• The influence of industry lobbyists in writing EPA regulations;
• The influence of the tobacco industry lobbyists on U.S. tobacco policies; and
• The role of former Attorney General John Ashcroft in illegal campaign finance activities.
The report examines the response of the Republican-controlled Congress to these 15 oversight issues. In each case, a large “accountability gap” has emerged. Despite repeated requests by Democratic members and news reports raising allegations of serious misconduct, the Congress has failed to convene hearings, issue subpoenas, and take the other steps necessary to fulfill its constitutional oversight role.
Snip (pg. 4)...
On multiple occasions, Republican Committee chairmen in the House have denied requests from ranking Democratic members to hold hearings into the manipulation of Iraq intelligence. On July 15, 2003, Rep. Waxman asked Rep. Porter Goss, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to hold hearings in the use of the forged nuclear evidence.9 On October 4, 2004, Rep. Waxman asked Rep. Tom Davis, the Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, to hold hearings on new revelations casting doubt on the “nuclear tubes” evidence cited by multiple Administration officials.10 On June 30, 2005, Rep. John Conyers and over 50 other Democratic members of Congress asked Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the Chairman of House Judiciary Committee, to hold hearings into the “Downing Street Memo,” a British document suggesting the United States and the United Kingdom may have manipulated intelligence about Iraq.11 And on November 4, 2005, Rep. Jane Harman asked Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the new Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to examine “how intelligence products and presentations were developed, whether dissents were properly reflected, and what steps, if any, were taken by the IC to correct misstatements of intelligence by senior Administration
officials.”12 All of these requests were ignored or rejected.
On the Senate side, after pressure from Democrats, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said in February 2004 that the Committee would look at this issue.13 But he subsequently stated the matter is “basically on the back burner.”14 Following the disclosure of the Downing Street Memo, Senator John Kerry and other Democratic Senators again urged Senate intelligence committee hearings on Iraq intelligence, but the Chairman declined this request.15
PDF By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 3, 2:31 PM ET
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Relying on self-deprecating jokes, unusual candor and outright flattery,
President Bush on Saturday wooed lawmakers he not only needs but will have to answer to in the final two years of his presidency.
Bush had not seen fit to attend a Democratic congressional retreat since 2001, his first year in office. But the new political reality that has Democrats in charge of Capitol Hill for the first time in a dozen years changed his mind. When he appeared before House Democrats at a Virginia resort, he seemed to be trying to make up for lost time.
With his first words, he sought to put to rest one bone of contention between the White House and the new congressional majority: The dropped "ic."
Democrats found it demeaning when the president, in his State of the Union address last month, referred to the "Democrat majority," as opposed to the "Democratic majority."
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