House panel subpoenas FBI interviews of Bush, Cheney as part of leak probe

WASHINGTON -- A House committee issued a subpoena Monday for FBI reports from interviews with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the CIA leak investigation.

The subpoena to Attorney General Michael Mukasey from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is the latest move by Congress to shed light on Cheney's precise role in the leak of Valerie Plame's CIA identity.

On Friday, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan is scheduled to testify to the House Judiciary Committee.

He is expected to talk about White House higher-ups directing him to deny that Cheney's chief of staff and White House political adviser Karl Rove played a role in leaking the CIA role of Plame, who is married to war critic Joseph Wilson.

Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and Rove were among the leakers of the identity of Wilson's wife. Both have since left the White House.

In publicly released grand jury testimony, Libby acknowledges having told the FBI early in the Plame probe that "it's possible" he spoke to Cheney about whether to share information with the press about Wilson's wife.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has been trying to get FBI interviews of Bush and Cheney since last year. Waxman renewed the request June 3 and Mukasey says the department is considering a response. Monday's subpoena also seeks other documents related to the Plame probe, the committee said in announcing the action.

Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI.

Last July, Bush commuted Libby's 2 1/2-year sentence, sparing him from serving any prison time.