BTTT
VENICE -- Officials in Indiana and Washington, D.C., said they are dumbfounded by a statement U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris made about a terrorist plot to blow up a power grid in Indiana.
In making the statement during a speech to 600 people Monday night in Venice, Harris either shared a closely held secret or passed along second-hand information as fact.
A staff member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees the nation's intelligence operations, said he had heard of no such plot.
And Indiana officials in the county where the power grid is located were at a loss to explain where the information originated.
"As the sheriff of this county, I would certainly be aware of such a threat," Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Carter said. "I have no information to corroborate any of that."
In an interview Tuesday, Harris would not reveal the name of the mayor who told her about the threat or provide further details.
She said in the speech that a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested in the plot and that explosives were found in his home in Carmel, a suburb north of Indianapolis.
Harris, a Republican from Longboat Key who is running for re-election, said the case was an example of the nation's success in fighting terrorism.
Carmel Mayor James Brainard and a spokesman for Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan said they had no knowledge of such a plot. Brainard said he had never spoken to Harris.
President Bush's fight against terrorism was a key part of the speech Harris gave Monday at a Republican rally in support of Bush at the Holiday Inn in Venice.
During the speech, she also said 100 terrorist threats against the United States had been thwarted since Sept. 11, 2001.
Applause greeted many of her comments.
On Tuesday, Harris disputed a statement in a Herald-Tribune article that said she learned of the 100 threats from classified information.
She said the information originated with Attorney General John Ashcroft and was not classified.
In testimony before Congress on April 1, 2003, Ashcroft said: "The FBI indicates that since Sept. 11, 2001, over 100 terrorist plots have been disrupted."
Similar statements have also been made by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., in defense of the Patriot Act.
But the staff member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said potential attacks are hard to define.
"It's impossible to say how many attacks have been stopped," the staff member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "If you're talking about terrorists strapped with explosives ready to blow themselves up in a shopping mall, we certainly haven't had that."
Ed Turzanski, a terrorism expert at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, said that "by using a broad brush" you could say that 100 potential terrorists have been stopped since Sept. 11.
"That would include home-grown fanatics, money launderers and others related to terrorism," Turzanski said. "In that case, 100 is a conservative figure. But if you're talking about 100 potential attacks like Sept. 11, no way."
Turzanski said he was unaware of a plot in Indiana.
He said that making such statements without providing specific details to back them up "only serves to erode public confidence" in the credibility of government.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security would not comment Tuesday on Harris' statements.
Harris' comments were seized upon Tuesday by one of her Democratic opponents.
Floyd Jay Winters, one of four Democrats running for the nomination to oppose Harris in this fall's election, called it irresponsible to bring up allegations at a rally but provide no details.
In the case of the alleged plot in Indiana, "it will only incite fear if it's not true and if it is true, she shouldn't be talking about it because it is classified," Winters said.
But Don O'Nesky, head of the Republican Club of South Sarasota County, which sponsored Monday's event, said Harris' comments rang true.
O'Nesky said there are terrorists in communities throughout America and he praised Harris for speaking out on the subject.