On Friday Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the chair of the House oversight committee, sent a letter to Stephen L. Johnson, the EPA administrator. It wasn’t a friendly note. Waxman is frustrated that the EPA has failed to comply with his May 5 subpoena for “more than 30 documents relating to communications with offices in the White House.” (The committee is investigating political interference with the work of EPA scientists.) Waxman explains that Johnson has “two basic options for each of the documents: provide the document to the Committee or assert executive privilege with respect to the document.”
So far, the White House hasn’t asserted executive privilege with regards to the documents Waxman wants. That means that if he doesn’t bring the requested documents to a May 20 hearing where he is expected to appear, Johnson will be in defiance of the subpoena. The Chairman didn’t mince words, either. The first sentence of the letter reads: “I am writing to advise you that when you appear before the Committee on May 20, 2008, you should appear with documents.”
Waxman’s not known for bluffing, so it should be quite a scene if Mr. Johnson shows up next Tuesday without his homework. I’ll keep you posted.
