Which would imply that the president really has every right to claim the privilege, right? The problem is that there is nothing else to indicate that the president could be able to claim immunity, when it comes to evidence in the commitee he himself have claimed will get to the bottom of things. Specifically, it seems to me that the current Security adviser would know the kind of information needed for the commission to determine whether the faceted system with cia, fbi, and whatever is to blaim rather than the policy- makers. And what(if any) significant changes occurred between the two last administrations. Perhaps Bushco found that a small truth would sound alot better than silence and allegations? Still, it's a damned if you do, and damned if you don't scenario, isn't it ;). But I must say, I'm truly still impressed that these hearings actually got initiated in the first place. And hopefully, something useful will come out of it, and not just Rice's resignation or something in that line.