The US Treasury is seeking an inquiry into how a document marked "secret" was shown in a television programme in which former US Treasury Secretary Mr Paul O'Neill criticised President Bush.
The move comes less than 24 hours after Mr O'Neill, who resigned a year ago in a shake-up of Mr Bush's economic team, told the CBS programme 60 Minuteson Sunday night that he had seen no "real evidence" during his two years in the administration that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
He said Mr Bush had been intent on ousting Saddam Hussein since well before the attacks of September 11th, 2001, and he described the president's management style as disinterested and unengaged.
Mr Bush, in his first public response, brushed aside Mr O'Neill's comments, telling a news conference in Mexico that "like the previous administration, we were for regime change" in Iraq.
Treasury spokesman Mr Rob Nichols told reporters the department had asked its Inspector General's office to investigate how a document marked "secret" had come to be shown during the 60 Minutesinterview with O'Neill.
"We're asking them to simply look into the 60 Minutessegment and then take appropriate steps, if necessary," he said, adding that the legal threshold for asking for an inquiry was "very low."
Asked if the Treasury risked being seen as vindictive in seeking the inquiry, Mr Nichols said: "We don't view it in that way."
The Inspector General's office investigates possible violations of agency laws or regulations. The office received the request late yesterday and was evaluating it, a source told Reuters.
A spokesman for 60 Minutessaid the program had not been given access to any secret documents.
"We have no secret documents. We merely showed a cover sheet that alluded to . . . a secret document," the spokesman said, describing the secret document as dealing with a post-Saddam Iraq.
The programme was aired in conjunction with publication of a book based on Mr O'Neill's experiences in the Bush administration, The Price of Loyalty, written by journalist Mr Ron Suskind. Mr Suskind, who also appeared on 60 Minutes, said Mr O'Neill had given him access to thousands of administration documents.