Q&A Hero

Question

During his terms in office, President George W. Bush faced a number of politically difficult situations. One of the most visible of the domestic problems he encountered involved the Enron scandal. During his second full year in office, Bush, along with his vice president, Dick Cheney, spent a lot of time fending off attacks concerning their dealings with Enron. Specifically, the Bush White House was publicly chastised for setting policies supported by Enron that actually helped the corporation. In short, many observers believed that the Bush White House supported Enron, and may therefore have helped prop up its illegal activities.
Senator. Henry Waxman was chosen to head the Senate committee charged with investigating "possible illegal activity surrounding the failure of Enron, and the possible involvement of the President and Vice President." The committee called Cheney and several of his top aides to appear and testify regarding their involvement in the Enron corporate scandal. Reluctantly, Cheney's chief of staff finally agreed to appear before the committee.
Senator Waxman asked Cheney about his involvement with Enron generally, but as his testimony continued, Waxman's questions became more specific. He asked, "Did you engage in any illegal activity regarding the Enron Corporation?" as well as, "Did you know of anyone who did engage in illegal activity regarding Enron?" Cheney refused to answer these questions, claiming that they were beyond the scope of the committee's charter. The committee held him in contempt.
Senator Waxman, upon the completion of Cheney's testimony, called him "a complete liar, and an underhanded cheater, willing to do anything to make money," and asserted that "he was simply part of the Texas oil mob good ole boys network." These comments were made directly to Cheney's face in the Senate committee's chambers. While the hearings were taking place, Waxman was negotiating with a major publisher to write a book about the Enron hearings, which would include Cheney's testimony as well as Waxman's own thoughts and comments about the process. At the conclusion of Cheney's testimony, Waxman appeared on numerous news programs and talk shows to promote his book and talk about the testimony, repeating his earlier comments about Cheney's honesty.
Vice President Cheney sued Waxman on several grounds. First, he claimed that Waxman had libeled him and sought $10 million in damages. Second, he challenged the committee's authority to investigate this subject matter. He argued that the committee's charter was too vague and the questions posed to him were a violation of his First Amendment rights of association.
Suppose you are a Supreme Court justice. How would you decide this case?