Who would play Walter Jones?

A Hollywood screenwriter says he'd like Peter Coyote to play U.S. Rep. Walter Jones.

Richard Lasser is trying to recruit top Hollywood talent for a play about the fictional impeachment trial of President Bush over the Iraq war.

He told Dome that he would like to cast Coyote, a character actor best known for his role as the prosecutor in "The Jagged Edge." But if TV and movie stars aren't available, he'd look for local talent in Washington, D.C.

The play is currently scheduled to premiere at a theater on the campus of George Washington University in January, shortly after the Congressional recess.

Lasser said he and co-writer Bruce Fein wrote the Jones character to be a strong advocate for truth. He compared his role in the play to U.S. Sen. Howard Baker during Watergate, who famously asked what the president knew and when he knew it.

"Having a Walter Jones is about as close as I think we're going to get in this day and age," he said.