Posted on 11/04/2003 10:58:22 PM PST by JohnHuang2
ON CAPITOL HILL
Democrats plot using
war intel against Bush
Memo reveals political motives behind probes into Iraq plans
Posted: November 4, 2003
11:46 p.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.comA memo prepared by a Senate Intelligence Committee Democratic staff member and obtained by radio talk-show host Sean Hannity reveals a plot to use congressional investigations into Iraq war planning for political gain in next year's presidential race.
The memo discusses the timing of a possible investigation into pre-war Iraq intelligence to maximize political embarrassment to President Bush.
It recommends that Democrats "prepare to launch an investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the majority. We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation of the administration's use of intelligence at any time – but we can only do so once ... the best time would probably be next year."
Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., seemed shocked by the memo, saying it may be evidence of a violation of Senate ethics rules.
He told reporters the leaked strategy memo from the staff of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va, "exposes politics in its most raw form."
The memo also discusses strategy for "revealing the misleading, if not flagrantly dishonest, methods and motives of senior administration officials who made the case for unilateral pre-emptive war." It discussed how Democrats could press for an independent investigation that has already been rejected by the Republican-led Congress or launch their own investigation.
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."
In his own statement, Rockefeller said the memo was not approved or shared with any member of the committee. He said it "was likely taken from a waste basket or through unauthorized computer access."
He said, however, it "clearly reflects staff frustration with the conduct of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and the difficulties of obtaining information from the administration."
"It's very hard for me to come to believe that the White House is going to cooperate on things which potentially could put them in a different light," Rockefeller said.
The last paragraph of the memo reads: "Intelligence issues are clearly secondary to the public's concern regarding the insurgency in Iraq.
The memo as reported by Hannity reads:
"We have carefully reviewed our options under the rules and believe we have identified the best approach. Our plan is as follows:
"1) 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.
"For example, in addition to the President's State of the Union speech, the chairman [Sen. Pat Roberts] has agreed to look at the activities of the office of the Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, as well as Secretary Bolton's office at the State Department.
"The fact that the chairman supports our investigations into these offices and cosigns our requests for information is helpful and potentially crucial. We don't know what we will find but our prospects for getting the access we seek is far greater when we have the backing of the majority. [We can verbally mention some of the intriguing leads we are pursuing.]
"2) Assiduously prepare Democratic 'additional views' to attach to any interim or final reports the committee may release. Committee rules provide this opportunity and we intend to take full advantage of it.
"In that regard we may have already compiled all the public statements on Iraq made by senior administration officials. We will identify the most exaggerated claims. We will contrast them with the intelligence estimates that have since been declassified. Our additional views will also, among other things, castigate the majority for seeking to limit the scope of the inquiry.
"The Democrats will then be in a strong position to reopen the question of establishing an Independent Commission [i.e., the Corzine Amendment.]
"3) Prepare to launch an independent investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the majority. We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation of the administration's use of intelligence at any time. But we can only do so once.
"The best time to do so will probably be next year, either:
"A) After we have already released our additional views on an interim report, thereby providing as many as three opportunities to make our case to the public. Additional views on the interim report (1). The announcement of our independent investigation (2). And (3) additional views on the final investigation. Or:
"B) Once we identify solid leads the majority does not want to pursue, we would attract more coverage and have greater credibility in that context than one in which we simply launch an independent investigation based on principled but vague notions regarding the use of intelligence.
"In the meantime, even without a specifically authorized independent investigation, we continue to act independently when we encounter footdragging on the part of the majority. For example, the FBI Niger investigation was done solely at the request of the vice chairman. We have independently submitted written requests to the DOD and we are preparing further independent requests for information.
"SUMMARY: Intelligence issues are clearly secondary to the public's concern regarding the insurgency in Iraq. Yet we have an important role to play in revealing the misleading, if not flagrantly dishonest, methods and motives of senior administration officials who made the case for unilateral preemptive war.
"The approach outlined above seems to offer the best prospect for exposing the administration's dubious motives." [End of Memo Excerpt.]
Hannity said the revelation that Democrats are using the intelligence committee to conduct opposition research for the coming presidential campaign demands an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
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