|
Jay works to patch leak { November 6 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10469126&BRD=2088&PAG=461&dept_id=346229&rfi=6http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10469126&BRD=2088&PAG=461&dept_id=346229&rfi=6
Jay Rockefeller works to patch leak
By: BARBARA HAWKINS Bluefield Daily Telegraph November 06, 2003
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., disclaimed charges a draft memo leaked to the news media from the Senate Intelligence Committee "somehow represents a plan to discredit what the Intelligence Committee is doing and to politicize the inquiry," Wednesday during an address on the Senate Floor.
The leaked memo, obtained by the Daily Telegraph from Fox News, outlines three opportunities for the Democrats, the minority in the Senate, to make a political case against the Bush administration concerning prewar investigations about weapons of mass destruction.
According to the memo, the Democrats' plan should be to "pull the majority along as far as we can on issues that may lead to major new disclosures regarding improper or questionable conduct by administration officials. We are having some success in that regard." It also includes several strategies to uncover the alleged "dubious motives" of the Bush administration.
They include the creation and dissemination of additional views on the interim intelligence report; the announcement of an independent investigation; and acting independently in the event of Republican "foot-dragging."
Two alternatives also suggested in the memo would be aimed at giving the minority more coverage and "greater credibility" after leads "the majority does not want to pursue are identified."
The author of the memo also points out, "We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation at any time - but we can only do so once. The best time will probably be next year," either after the release of the Democrats' "additional views" or once the minority has identified leads Republicans don't want to pursue.
Many Republican leaders charged the memo contained a pre-election plan by Democrats to be used against the Republican administration in connection with the Iraq war.
According to an Associated Press report, Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Pat Roberts, R - Kan., called the memo "politics in its most raw form."
In a statement, Roberts said that the memo "appears to be a road map for how the Democrats intend to politicize what should be a bipartisan, objective review of prewar intelligence."
Rockefeller, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told fellow senators, "These charges are inaccurate and unfortunate."
He then told his colleagues the reason they should feel outrage is not because of the content of the leaked draft staff memo, but said instead their attention should be directed toward "the real issue." He said the Intelligence Committee is not conducting a thorough and in-depth inquiry into all aspects of the intelligence process leading up to the war in Iraq and senators should "be disturbed that five months after we started asking questions we are still going hat in hand to the administration to try to get the documents we need to conduct this review."
In statements Tuesday night and Wednesday, Rockefeller sought to turn an embarrassing leak to the news media into a platform. "The American people deserve a full accounting of why we sent our sons and daughters into the war." He also said the government should pursue the inquiry to the end, "not to score political points on either side, but because we must make sure that we fix problems and provide our country with the best intelligence possible. That is our job."
But, Sen. George Allen, R-Va., in a statement released Wednesday night, said the memo was nothing but political posturing. He said, "The security of our nation must never be a partisan issue. I am disgusted that Democrats are advocating a purely political game plan to place partisan advantage over bipartisan cooperation where national security is concerned. Republican or Democrat, the work conducted by the Intelligence Committee has always been off limits for political purposes and must remain so. What has been done is shameful. It is dangerous. And, it is blatantly wrong."
In a statement issued Tuesday night after information about the memo leak was reported, Rockefeller, who is senior Democrat on the Intelligence committee, said the memo, "written by staff and was likely taken from a waste basket or through unauthorized computer access," was not approved or shared.
Then, Wednesday morning in response to statements made on the Senate floor expressing concern about the pre-war inquiry by the Intelligence Committee, Rockefeller delivered an address saying he regrets the impression the memo gave some Republican colleagues. He said the leaked report "clearly reflects staff frustration that the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation has not tackled the tough issues and frustration with the difficulties we have had in obtaining information from the administration."
After declaring, for the record, the leaked memo "was not approved by me, was not given to any other member of the Intelligence Committee or any other member of the Senate or anyone else," the West Virginia Senator said at some point "very soon" the committee and Senate will "have to explore the chain of events surrounding this draft memo, since it raises serious questions about whether the majority is obtaining unauthorized access to private, internal materials of the minority, and who made the decision in this case to leak the draft memo to the press."
- Contact Barbara Hawkins at bhawkins@bdtonline.com
©Bluefield Daily Telegraph 2003
|
|
