StudioGlyphic

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is pushing the White House to give subpoena power to the independent commission President Bush created last month to investigate intelligence operations.

The administration has turned him down, but the senator is refusing to take no for an answer.

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McCain also wants to extend the inquiry's scope beyond the limits set down by the president. Bush prescribed an examination of the quality of intelligence gathered on Iraq, but he withheld a mandate to scrutinize how the administration used the information.

McCain wants to examine how that intelligence was used by policymakers to justify the Iraq invasion.

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Unlike the House and Senate Committees, the president's independent commission will not limit its intelligence review of weapons of mass destruction programs to Iraq.

"Their scope is a little broader," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) "It's the systematic challenge we've had."

Roberts hesitated when asked if the commission should be given subpoena power before finally saying "If they ask for it I think they ought to have it."