Sept. 11 Leak Probe Focuses on Sen. Shelby, Paper Reports

Reuters | 01.22.04 | Unknown

[kcvl]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Justice Department probe of the leak of classified information about intercepted messages prior to the Sept. 11 attacks is focusing on Sen. Richard Shelby, former chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The newspaper cited a law enforcement official and congressional sources as saying that the probe has focused on the Alabama Republican who was head of the intelligence panel at the time of the disclosure.

The FBI is trying to determine the source of the leaked information that the super secret National Security Agency (NSA) had intercepted two messages hinting at an impending action on the eve of Sept. 11, 2001, but did not translate them until Sept. 12.

The information was first disclosed publicly on CNN after a 2002 classified hearing in which the director of the NSA spoke to lawmakers behind closed doors.

Citing unnamed sources, The Washington Post reported that a grand jury has been hearing information and has taken testimony from at least two witnesses including Shelby's former press secretary.

Shelby, who now heads the Senate Banking Committee, told the newspaper in a statement that he had never compromised classified information.

"To my knowledge, the same can be said about my staff," the statement said. The Post quoted the statement as saying Shelby had had no contact with investigators for more than a year.

A spokesman for Shelby could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Post said it was unclear how long the 18-month investigation had focused on Shelby or how close the FBI was to concluding the probe.

The NSA, based at Fort Meade, Maryland, is one of the government's most secretive intelligence agencies. Much of its information carries a higher classification than other sorts of intelligence. It is illegal to release classified information.

[leadpenny]

No, Congress and the President set the agenda, and they are us.

Unless you can find the person or persons who blew it, you're blowin' smoke. Agencies are not responsible. People are. Name names.

[hobbes1]

One wonders if the same 'exploitation" that occurred with Judiciary computers (see link ) was possible here....

[faithincowboys]

Oh, so the FBI and CIA need to be told to protect the American people. I didn't know that.

SO where do I go from here, do I have to tell a ditch digger to dig, a bus driver to drive a bus....

You're argument is just really bad. So universal accountability is what you're pushing, are you sure you're not a liberal.

I guess I'm responsible for Barney Frank's gay prostitution ring and Bill Clinton's perjury.

[Lancey Howard]

Your points are well made.

But at that level, you can take it a step further - - maybe it actually took a month to translate the intercepts. Or, maybe there were intercepts which translated completely differently than what was reported. Maybe there were actually no intercepted messages at all. Or there were ten intercepts.

Selective "leaks" and disinformation is part of the game. I will never believe that the NSA (or the CIA, or the DIA) would sit down and spill everything they know to a group of "lawmakers". They may throw them a bone, or use them to further certain intelligence gambits, but they don't give away the store, no way.

Regards,
LH

[BurbankKarl]

They should have read the msgs on Art Bell...then we would could come up with some good theories!

[XHogPilot]

Re: your post #32,

You are so right!

[peekaboo]

Shelby was the senator calling for an investigation into who knew what right after 9/11.
He was asking for Tenet's resignation immediately at the time.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I don't think anyone should have leaked anything, but...to me, {begin sarcasm} the intercepted messages definitely say they were about to hit the continental U.S.A. and probably NYC and DC if I had to venture a guess {end sarcasm}.

Seriously, the alphabet agencies and the State Dept. knew something was going to go down somewhere in the world beginning in the summer of 2001 -- they just thought it was to take place overseas like most other error acts do, uh, did. For crying out loud, the intercepted messages -- unless they contained more info than revealed, or unless there are other messages or other intel not cited -- would give no one a real clue as to where a hit was to happen or even how unless one had supernatural divining powers.

[GEC]

That's Fabulous!

Sophie is so cute.

Great to see the rest of your brood!

Hope everyone is still doing well.

Good luck getting some sleep.

My Laura is 10 months old yesterday.

[leadpenny]

Oh, so the FBI and CIA need to be told to protect the American people. I didn't know that.

I didn't know that either. I thought it was Donald Rumsfeld and the Department of Defense charged with that responsibility. The FBI is the investigative arm of the US Government and answerable to the President through the Attorney General. The CIA and it's Director does analysis and provides intelligence assessments to the Executive Branch.

SO where do I go from here, do I have to tell a ditch digger to dig, a bus driver to drive a bus....

Childish remark.

You're argument is just really bad. Oh, OK! So universal accountability is what you're pushing, are you sure you're not a liberal.

What's with the name calling?

I guess I'm responsible for Barney Frank's gay prostitution ring and Bill Clinton's perjury.

No, I don't think you're responsible for those things. Are you?

BTW, you still didn't name any names or point to a "smoking gun."

[My Dog Likes Me]

"The match begins tomorrow..."

One might conclude that this phrase is meaningless, but maybe similar phrases were heard by NSA just prior to the Khobar Towers and USS Cole bombings.

Or maybe the G-Men are trying to smear Senator Shelby because he asked the tough questions after 9/11.

[Redbob]

"What would be the point of leaking that non-information?"

The point would be to try to, in some small way, embarrass some member(s) of the intelligence community for whom the good senator from Alabama presumably has what we used to call "a hard on."

[TruthNtegrity]

There still is the problem about the FBI agent who wrote a report critical of - I believe, Visas and letting Arabs take flying classes here in America. I don't remember all the details but IF his report had made it to the FBI, and IF it had been distributed to NSA or CIA or DIA (the FBI likes to hold onto information so that when 'they' break a case, 'they' get the notoriety), then the Intel wizards at the puzzle palace in particular, NSA, might have had a chance at putting some completely random pieces of information together - which is what Intel is made up of.

The problem here is that if they'd had the flying school information, and the "match is tomorrow" together, would they have come up with "planes into buildings"? Probably not.

And on another note, it has been noted that leaks stopped when Shelby left the Senate Intelligence Cmte. Now, whether it was him or his staff who were doing the leaks, the information that Shelby had, seemed to be coming from his office. Infer what you will. Was it him leaking it? I think so. Was it his staff? Could have been that, too, if his handling of notes taken in a classified meeting was sloppy. It's happened before.

But I repeat. The leaks stopped when Shelby left the Committee. That's seems a pretty direct link to me.

TNT