Leaked memo sparks rancor in Senate - Rockefeller suggests Republican break-in

Boston Globe ^ | November 6, 2003 | Robert Schlesinger

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON -- The festering quarrel over the Senate investigation into pre-war US intelligence on Iraq flared up yesterday as Republicans and Democrats traded charges of politicizing the probe and engaging in office espionage.

At issue was a draft strategy memorandum written by a Democratic staff member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Leaked to the media Tuesday night, it laid out how the party could steer the probe in an effort to produce the information most damaging to the Bush administration.

[cwb]

I still think it's a disgruntled democrat staffer who's fed up with the Democrat's tactics. I'm sure that even some of these people have family and friends in Iraq and they can see the damage their party is causing them.

[So Cal Rocket]

My guess is the memo was leaked by another Democrat (probably a staffer, not a Senator) who has become disgusted with the Democrat Party and their tactics - we have seen the tide turning against this disgusting party and we'll see a lot more defections in the future.

Just ask Zell Miller.

[Judith Anne]

I thought Hannity said someone GAVE him the memo.

We can email Rockefeller and tell him what we think of his lame excuses:

senator@rockefeller.senate.gov

And while we're at it, we can demand his resignation.

Any senator with access to sensitive intelligence who puts the 2004 election above the safety of our troops and the progress of the war is not worthy of office, and MUST RESIGN.

[WhiteGuy]

More politics as usual from our elected.

Could this be another distraction?

[DManA]

By all means. Lets have a big long public investigation that keeps this memo in the forefront of the citizen's minds for months.

"At some point very soon the committee and the 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," Rockefeller said.

[max_rpf]

Plucked from the trash = Fair Game. You are supposed to shred sensitive documents with a crosscut.

[mware]

I noticed that Sean was all but begging one of his guests last night to put him under oath regarding the information and how he got it.

[goodnesswins]

I saw that too.....which means, to me, that the Dems will soon STOP spinning this...maybe...LOL. They are sooooo BrainDEAD. T. McAuliffe....pick up the white courtesy phone, please.

[mattdono]

It seems that Sean isn't worried about some "journalistic integrity" pap like Bob Novak was over the VALARIE PLAME issue.

In this case, that is a good thing.

[Sabertooth]

Rockefeller noted that the document had not been approved by or shared with members of the committee. "But it 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," he said.

Rockefeller questioned how the document ended up in the hands of the media, suggesting the committee's Republican staff may have plucked it from a garbage can or broken into a Democratic computer.

"At some point very soon the committee and the 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," Rockefeller said.

We're about to get a new litmus test for "Rockefeller Republicans."

I am not persuaded that our party will do much more than wring their trembling hands in limp fury.

Frist, Roberts and Hatch should huff and puff to the Democrats
"three or four more times, and we'll give you such a finger-wagging!"

That'll show those mean, partisan so-and-soes.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

When trying to decipher this mess, it helps to remember that the Twin Towers were nick-named David and Nelson for a reason -- they financed and built them.

Especially on intelligence committees, it can be difficult to actually know where anyone's coming from.

Like Mena, ulimately nothing will come from this committee. IMO, in this case, that's good news.

[old patriot]

When the CIA-spook lady was exposed a couple of weeks ago, all the Dems were screaming to know who leaked the information from the White House. When the Dems are caught being the slimes that they are, they all scream about how there must be a GOP break-in. The picture is that the Dems are defending the country whenever they endanger the country or Constitution, and are being patriotic. When they get caught at their own game, they cry foul.

The only thing foul is the chicken-sh*t Dems, commies, Left, and all of Hollywood. Doesn't Rockefeller know that he can get cancer for lying?

Old Patriot

[mrtysmm]

Edie, this morning on Fox and Friends, suggested the memo could have come from someone on Rockafellas staff. Maybe that person was digusted by it and decided to give it to the GOP...could that be true??? I wonder.

[A Citizen Reporter]

Exactly! And as was suggested on Fox and Friends this morning, if the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee's office cannot even keep a political hot-potato memo like this secure, then he has no business on this committee. How on earth could he keep the intelligence reviews secure? Rockefeller needs to resign or be yanked from the committee.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

That's a fascinating scenario.

If it reads like a cheesy Will Smith movie, it may well be true.

[MrConfettiMan]

How much you want to bet this [Republican break-in] is the lead story on all the network news programs tonight?

[pwatson]

Today’s Dallas Morning News, Bush missed deal to broker peace with Saddam, nothing about Democrats willing to dance on graves of our dead soldiers for political power.

[bullseye1911]

"Republican staff may have plucked it from a garbage can..."

Sorry, Senator, the courts have ruled that trash has no privacy protections. That's why paperazzi can troll through the curbside. Try again!

[Dr. Eckleburg]

LOL. That comes under the heading of "hell freezing over."

See #31.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Didn't Hannity say a Democrat gave it to him?