Pelosi vows Bush probe, open to prosecutions

In a Sunday Fox interview that's sure to get the attention of box-packers at 1600, Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated she's open to backing prosecutions that arise from Congressional hearings into a range of controversial Bush White House actions.

"I think you look at each item and see what is a violation of the law and do we even have a right to ignore it," the California Democrat told Chris Wallace.

Last week House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) called for criminal investigations of Bush administration Iraq and anti-terror policies.

Pelosi was careful to skate carefully between Conyers and Barack Obama, who hasn't foreclosed the possibility of prosecutions while saying he was more eager to look forward than backwards.

But she was far less restrained when asked about the White House role in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, vowing to push forward on hearings that could lead to prosecutions.

"That's not up to us to say that doesn't matter anymore... We cannot let the politicizing of, for example, the Justice Department to go unreviewed," she added. "I want to see the truth come forth."

Glenn Thrush is senior staff writer at Politico Magazine.