Senate to Hold Hearings on Able Danger, Info Sharing

Fox News ^ | August 25, 2005 | Catherine Herridge, Molly Hooper and Liza Porteus

[popdonnelly]

Not a very promising cast of characters.

[sono]

Why Judiciary?

[spokeshave]

words fail me

[edpc]

Countdown to the first post decrying the inevitable whitewash...

A whitewash would have to entail some sort of competency to give the impression something was done. I didn't see that during the 911 commission hearings. I doubt it suddenly happens, now.

[johnny7]

"When this is over, the Sept. 11 commission is going to have egg all over their face," he said.

Or... they will declare Weldon insane and 'persuade' the witnesses to take back their accusations.

[processing please hold]

If that's who's doing the investigation, we may as well throw in the towel pick up our marbles and go home. They are more biased than the 9-11 panel.

[ken5050]

Why the Judiciary committee?..OTOH this means the House will jump in also with both feet, thank God..

[ken5050]

Graham...here's his chance for BIG TIME redemption..

[WoodstockCat]

I'm counting on Kyl, Sessions and Coburn.
It would be nice for Senator Graham to join them.

[ken5050]

I think Coburn is going to rise to the occasion in both hearings..the more I see/hear of the guy, the more impressed I am. He has a relentless desire for the truth..

[OESY]

Able Danger: Congress Takes Charge


Senator Arlen Specter has announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on the revelations surrounding Able Danger and plans to cover wider-ranging issues on intelligence and information sharing:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., plans to hold a hearing on the "Able Danger" allegations and the larger issue of information-sharing between the Pentagon and the FBI, FOX News has confirmed. ...
One of the central Able Danger claims — that military lawyers blocked the sharing of the Atta information from the FBI in the late summer and early fall of 2000 — will be a priority of the committee's probe, FOX News has confirmed.

Some analysts involved with Able Danger have recently gone public with their findings, saying they were discouraged from looking further into Atta, and their attempts to share their information with the FBI were thwarted, because Atta was a legal foreign visitor at the time.


Not only is this news overdue, the use of the Judiciary Committee seems rather extraordinary. Issues surrounding intelligence and military matters would normally get hearings before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence or the Armed Services Committee, not Judiciary. It makes some sense in this case, as the issue of coordination with law enforcement prior to 9/11 will undoubtedly -- and finally -- come back to the actions of the Clinton Administration and the Department of Justice in 1995 to make that coordination much more difficult.

Curt Weldon says that he has five people connected to the Able Danger project willing to testify under oath about data-mining, the identification of Atta, and their efforts to pass the information to the FBI. If Weldon delivers and the testimony remains consistent with what we have already heard, the 9/11 Commission will find itself in full retreat, its findings discredited and its members marginalized. But it won't just be them with questions to answer, nor the Clinton Administration; the Bush administration will also come back under scrutiny, especially in the Pentagon, which has yet to make any definitive statement regarding Able Danger.

These hearings should take place in full public view, with only the testimony regarding specific methodology taking place in closed session. Four years after the worst attacks on American soil since the Civil War, we deserve answers as to all of the parties behind those attacks, how we failed to prevent them, and now how we failed to investigate the terrorist attacks properly the first time around. Specter's hearings provide a good start for Congress. We need to make sure they also finish the job right this time.

Posted by Captain Ed, http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/

[roses of sharon]

The so-called commission already has egg on their face for its obvious intent on being a show trial of the President before the campaign.


It is also obvious that Clinton did nothing about OBL or Saddam because he knew how big a job it was, and knew the American people would not stand for it for as long as it took.

He cared only for his poll standings.

Of course Bush had no choice after OBL carried thru on his years of threats, so he went after him in Afghanistan, and he quickly removed Saddam and Sons and their threats from over the US shoulders for good.

The only impact AD could have on politics is that a state is tied to 9/11 like Saddam, Syria, SA, Iran, ect.

[Dat Mon]

ARTICLE..."Not only is this news overdue, the use of the Judiciary Committee seems rather extraordinary. Issues surrounding intelligence and military matters would normally get hearings before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence or the Armed Services Committee, not Judiciary."

Schaffer briefly touched on the fact that this top secret MILITARY INTELLIGENCE operation had started to identify contacts between foreign governments and people in OUR government. This is a big big story...on many different levels.

The actual fingering of Atta pre 9-11 may not even be the MAJOR aspect of this story.

The worst possible venue IMO to give this a full impartial investigation is in Senate Judiciary. Somebody needs to provide a logical rationale to hold the hearings there...Eds explanation doesn't do it.

Why is Pat Roberts silent on this...how was ownership of this established behind the scenes?

No wonder Weldon is livid these days. Any investigation which does NOT include Weldon is a damn joke.

[mwl1]

Any hearing is better than no hearing, and this will force the House to act with even greater intensity -- hopefully through the Intelligence Committee.

It's a sad day when Specter has pre-empted Senator Roberts.

That said, I think Specter will do a more thorough job than is generally believed on this thread. He likes and craves the limelight, and he is not gonna climb out on a limb over nothing.

[princess leah]

For a real commission that ACTUALLY INVESTIGATES things, they need to add NON-POLITICIANS to the committee like Mark FUrhman, Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, and one or two libs on there to "be fair and balanced". Man, can you imagine what THAT committee sessions would be like? PAY-PER-VIEW would make a haul by airing those discussions!

[snakechopper]

Why would the Senate Judiciary Committee have an interest in this? Last week I emailed Sen Pat Roberts about this and urged him to open up a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation. Seems to me to be more in his bailiwick than Specter's.

[Truth29]

Note that the article at the link says the Senate may hold hearings and that active discussions are underway. Looks like a trial balloon deflating.

[tennmountainman]

Lets see Curt Weldon is in the house. He's the one who brought this up and it's not even going to be investigated by the House Committee he's on?

It's going to be hearings by Scottish Law Specter and
Gang Of 14 Lindsey Graham.

Specter is worse than Keen. looks like another whitewash is in the works.

[tennmountainman]

"Graham...here's his chance for BIG TIME redemption"

Gang of 14 member Graham is a joke.

Where in the heck is the House Committee's on This?

Will Arlen Be Using Scottish Law or The Majic Bullit On These Hearings? What A Joke.

[hansel]

Well, the Armed Services Committee couldn't chair the investigation since:

Gorelick:9/11 Commission as Clinton:Senate Able Danger Investigation