White House asserts exec privilege over EPA investigation By Andrew McLemore http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/22/white-house-...
“I don’t think we’ve had a situation like this since Richard Nixon was president,†Rep. Henry A. Waxman said yesterday in an article by the Los Angeles Times.
Waxman was referring to President Bush’s assertion of executive privilege as he refused to turn over subpoenaed documents to a congressional investigation into whether Bush pressured the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken decisions on smog and greenhouse gases... Waxman contends the White House intervened with EPA to produce more industry-friendly outcomes in setting new smog standards and denying California and more than a dozen other states permission to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.
“I have a clear sense that their assertion of this privilege is self-serving and not based on the appropriate law and rules,†Waxman said from the dais of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing room.