Prometheus 6

"I think that Secretary Rice is going to have a confrontation with this committee, because we're not going to accept the idea that if you say something that could be negative about the Maliki government, it's classified, but if you say something positive about them, it's OK," Waxman said.

U.S. official won't discuss Iraq corruption
The State Department is accused of trying to hide whether Prime Minister Maliki blocked investigations into his cabinet and family.
By Peter Spiegel
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 5, 2007

WASHINGTON — State Department officials faced new allegations Thursday of attempting to conceal misdeeds by the Iraqi government after refusing to tell congressional investigators whether Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has blocked corruption investigations into his cabinet and family members.

The charges came at an occasionally emotional hearing at which a senior State Department official responsible for Middle East policy said neither he nor other diplomats working in Iraq would discuss corruption by Iraqi officials in public.

Lawrence E. Butler, the deputy assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the information was considered classified because it could damage relations between the United States and Iraq, and could only be discussed in private with members of Congress.

"Where revelation of information would damage bilateral relationships, it is intended to be kept confidential," Butler told the committee. "It goes to the nature of our relationship with the government of Prime Minister Maliki."

The showdown was the latest in a series of confrontations between the State Department and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills). As the committee chairman, Waxman has repeatedly accused department officials of attempting to cover up misdeeds in Iraq, including alleged abuses by Blackwater USA, the main private security contractor for U.S. diplomats in the country.

Waxman aides said they might seek to question Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the decision to restrain diplomats from discussing instances in which Maliki's government allegedly ordered Iraqi auditors to close cases on family members and political allies.