Seraphim
03-06-2004, 01:27 PM
By Caren Bohan
CRAWFORD, Texas (*******) - The White House on Friday said it had received a subpoena asking for Air Force One telephone records that a grand jury wants to review as part of its probe into whether someone in the administration illegally disclosed the identity of a covert CIA (news - web sites) officer.
Scott McClellan, spokesman for President Bush (news - web sites), said the White House received that and other subpoenas in January. Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, he declined to say what information the other subpoenas had requested.
"Yes, we are complying fully with the request from the Department of Justice (news - web sites)," McClellan said at a news briefing in answer to a question about the Air Force One subpoena. Bush is spending the weekend at his Texas ranch.
The identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame was disclosed in a July 14 column by Robert Novak, who cited "two senior administration officials" as sources for the information.
Plame is married to former diplomat Joseph Wilson, who was sent to Niger in 2002 to look into claims Iraq (news - web sites) was trying to buy uranium "yellow cake" for a nuclear weapons program.
He reported back that the claims were untrue and last year wrote an opinion piece criticizing the administration's rationale for launching war on Iraq.
Wilson believes his wife's name was leaked in retaliation for his criticisms.
Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is leading the investigation into the allegations.
An article in the Newsday newspaper on Friday said three grand jury subpoenas were sent to the White House on Jan. 22 requesting a wide range of information, including records of White House contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets.
Newsday said the subpoena on the telephone records sought calls to and from Air Force One, while Bush was touring countries in Africa.
The newspaper also said another subpoena sought records from the White House Iraq Group, a strategy group set up in August 2002 to publicize the threat posed by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
CRAWFORD, Texas (*******) - The White House on Friday said it had received a subpoena asking for Air Force One telephone records that a grand jury wants to review as part of its probe into whether someone in the administration illegally disclosed the identity of a covert CIA (news - web sites) officer.
Scott McClellan, spokesman for President Bush (news - web sites), said the White House received that and other subpoenas in January. Citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, he declined to say what information the other subpoenas had requested.
"Yes, we are complying fully with the request from the Department of Justice (news - web sites)," McClellan said at a news briefing in answer to a question about the Air Force One subpoena. Bush is spending the weekend at his Texas ranch.
The identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame was disclosed in a July 14 column by Robert Novak, who cited "two senior administration officials" as sources for the information.
Plame is married to former diplomat Joseph Wilson, who was sent to Niger in 2002 to look into claims Iraq (news - web sites) was trying to buy uranium "yellow cake" for a nuclear weapons program.
He reported back that the claims were untrue and last year wrote an opinion piece criticizing the administration's rationale for launching war on Iraq.
Wilson believes his wife's name was leaked in retaliation for his criticisms.
Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is leading the investigation into the allegations.
An article in the Newsday newspaper on Friday said three grand jury subpoenas were sent to the White House on Jan. 22 requesting a wide range of information, including records of White House contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets.
Newsday said the subpoena on the telephone records sought calls to and from Air Force One, while Bush was touring countries in Africa.
The newspaper also said another subpoena sought records from the White House Iraq Group, a strategy group set up in August 2002 to publicize the threat posed by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).