Spencer Ackerman at TPM Muckraker reports that Representatives Henry Waxman, John Conyers, and William Lacy Clay have jointly written a letter to Attorney General Gonzales, inquiring about "the status of a DOJ review requested by the head of the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office in January to settle the matter of whether the vice presidency resides in the executive branch." The letter asks:
(1) What is the status of your department's response to the January 2007 request from the Archives?
a. When did the review commence?
b. Which individuals at the department have been assigned to review this matter?
c. Please produce all documents relating to your department's review of this matter, including without limitation all communications, analyses, memoranda. or other documents.
(2) Have officials from the Department of Justice ever communicated with officials from the White House, including the Office of the Vice President, concerning the request from the Archives or the issue of whether the executive order does or should apply to the Office of the Vice President?
a. If so, please identify and explain the substance of any such communication.
b. Please produce all documents relating to any such communication.
(3) Has the Department of Justice ever taken a position on or analyzed the issue of the status or existence of the Vice President or the Office of the Vice President within the executive branch, the legislative branch, both, or neither?
a. If so, please identiff all instances in which the department has addressed this issue and explain the position, if any taken by the department.
b. Please produce all documents relating to this issue, including memoranda, legal briefs, communications, and any other documents.
(4) Have officials from the White House, including the Office of the Vice President, ever cofirmunicated with ofñcials from the Department of Justice conceming the status or existence of the Vice President or the Office of the Vice President within the executive branch, the legislative branch, both, or neither?
a. If so, please identiff and explain the substance of any such communication.
b. Please produce all documents relating to any such communication.
(5) 'When you were serving as White House Counsel, were you or anyone in your office involved in any way with drafting, assessing, or otherwise reviewing proposed revisions to the Executive Order in2003?
a. If so, please explain whether you have considered recusing yourself from consideration of this issue.
b. If you have elected not to recuse yourself please explain the basis for your decision.
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