At The Hill, Russell Berman reports:
House Republicans are annoyed at the White House for releasing its 32-page report on the Libya military mission to the New York Times before delivering it to the Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The Speaker’s office said late Wednesday afternoon it had not seen the report, while the Times had already posted a story based on interviews with senior administration officials and citing the report. The Libya document is a response to a House-passed resolution demanding answers to a long series of questions about the operations, including its costs, duration and objectives.
The release of the report has a couple of curious features.
First, the cover letter comes not from the president or even a cabinet member, but from legislative-affairs officials at the State and Defense Departments.
Second, although the New York Times has posted the text of the report, it does not appear to be available at the website of the White House or any other government agency. The same was true of the president’s May 20 letter on Libya to congressional leaders.
