Congressional Democrats called for an investigation Monday into a report that President Bush and the Saudi government made a secret deal to reduce oil prices in the run-up to the election in November. Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter who authored the new book Plan of Attack, revealed the deal in an interview with 60 Minutes.

In a letter to Bush, Congressman Henry Waxman and Ed Markey wrote, “Our nation’s economy is too important to suffer from high gasoline prices to suit the political timing of any Presidential campaign.”

The White House has not outright denied the report. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan visited the White House on April 1 and pledged to protect the world economy from oil shocks.

In an interview on CNN last night Prince Bandar denied a secret deal was reached and said President Clinton made a similar request on gas prices in 2000 as did President Carter in 1979.

The Associated Press reports Senator John Kerry criticized the alleged Bush-Saudi deal during a campaign stop in Florida where he reached out for the Jewish vote. He said, “I have a 100 percent record … of supporting the special relationship and friendship that we have with Israel. I can guarantee you that as president, I understand not just how we do that but also how we end this sweetheart relationship with a bunch of Arab countries that still allows money to move to Hamas, Hezballah and the Al Aqsa Brigade.”

In other news connecting the House of Bush and the House of Saud, Woodward reveals Vice President Richard Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shared top secret war plans about the attack on Iraq with Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan on Jan. 11, 2003. The documents included a map that was marked TOP SECRET NOFORM, meaning it was classified material that could not be disclosed to any non-US official.