[lugsoul]

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

[atomicpossum]

Arlen "Status Quo" Specter.

[Bigun]

Oh I'm THRILLED that Arlen "Magic Bullet" Specter will hold hearings as there is NO telling what HE may uncover!

[Peach]

Weldon said in a statement that doing so "might give the unfortunate impression that its results are predetermined."

The congressman said he spoke to DiRita on Wednesday and that "he was backpedaling left and right," claiming he was misquoted about the status of the search.

[Danae]

Oooo. Thank you Arlen for illustrating just how BRILLIANTLY congress, well shoot the whole bloody government, has WASTED MY MONEY! Goody, now Arlen is gonna waste more of it just to prove what everybody already knows. Hey Arlen, the sky is blue, how bout giving us a commission to prove it. There must be some pork barrel funds left right? </Sarcasm>

This is a dead horse. Everybody knows about Jamie now. We all know where all that crappola came from, Bill and Hill. Lets roast the REAL perps if you are going to do anything Arlen. Otherwise you really ARE wasting our money.

[caisson71]

Senate to hold hearings on Able Danger? Bring out the clowns and dancing asses last used in the 9/11 Commission. There's more Washington theater planned.

[WoodstockCat]

Ok, who is on the Judiciary Committee from the Republican side that we can count on calling Gorelick as a witness?

[truth_seeker]

Who is runninbg the Senate? Specter or Frist?

[NormsRevenge]

FR Archives Keyword Search Results for Gorelick Wall

[Dat Mon]

Having this in the judiciary committee is a big, probably fatal mistake. It is an exercise in masochism...AT BEST. If it is to be held in the Senate at all...it should be in Pat Roberts Senate Intelligence committee.

Are we going to be treated to the spectacle of Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer, Patrick Leahy et al using this event for more political grandstanding and political attacks on republicans?

The secret (in part) proceedings will be leaked to Gorelick and the other Clintonoids to facilitate their 'prep' work before their testimony.

Its not a matter of stupidity anymore to me...no politician is this stupid.

[Spunky]

I was listening to a talk show late last night and Schaffer called in. He was talking about when Ben Venista called into one of the talk shows and said they could not investigate because the TECHNOLOGY that collected the information NO LONGER EXISTED.

Listening to Schaffer talk I got the impression he was saying that Ben Venista was saying they could not investigate because the TECHNOLOGY (ABLE DANGER) no longer existed. That is true. They had disbanded. He said they are desperately trying to get together another group and it will be called ABLE (superior or suspicion or something that started with an S) I can't remember what the S stood for.

[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.

[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.

[Thumbellina]

Captain's Quarters has an Update:
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
August 25, 2005
Able Danger: Congress Takes Charge (Update)
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.

UPDATE: I understand everyone's reservations about Senator Specter, but Kathryn Jean Lopez at the Corner has this memo which makes it sound like Specter takes this seriously. It also has more information about his efforts to involve the FBI regarding Atta and the terrorist cell before 9/11:

Honorable Robert Mueller Director Federal Bureau of Investigation 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D. C. 20535-0001
Dear Director Mueller,

It has been reported in the news media and directly to my staff that Army Lt. Colonel Anthony Shaffer was the operations officer for a secret military program referred to as Able Danger. The mission of Able Danger was to use a sophisticated data mining program in conjunction with more traditional military intelligence methods to identify and track al Qaida terrorists oversees.

In connection with this mission, Shaffer reports that he and his associates discovered the names and U.S. locations of three of the four 9-11 pilots a year prior to 9-11. Because the suspected al Qaida terrorists were located in the U.S., Shaffer reports that he made repeated requests of Defense Intelligence Agency (“DIA”) officials to schedule a meeting with FBI officials in order to present this intelligence to the FBI for further investigation. Shaffer further contacted FBI agent Xanthig Mangum and asked her to schedule such a meeting within FBI. Shaffer states that he made this request both verbally and by email to Agent Mangum. Shaffer claims that the DIA decided not to share this information with the FBI on the advice of legal counsel and that certain meetings that had been scheduled on this issue were cancelled as a result.

This is an official request that your office provide to the Judiciary Committee all information and documents it has in connection with Able Danger, Lt. Colonel Anthony Shaffer, Captain Scott Phillipot or any other persons having any connections with Project Able Danger, including, but not limited to, email communication, notes, phone message slips, memos or any other supporting documentation.

I would appreciate it if you would provide Agent Mangum for an interview with my staff at your earliest convenience. Also, please provide information concerning any and all requests made to the FBI by any other entity, agency, branch or commission in connection with Agent Mangum, Lt Colonel Shaffer, Project Able Danger or any related matters, including, but not limited to, requests for interviews or documents.

Thank you for your attention to this important question about cross agency information sharing.

Sincerely,

Arlen Specter


If the Able Danger team made contact with the FBI and the FBI refused the meeting, the explanation for that refusal should make for interesting viewing on C-SPAN 2.

Posted by Captain Ed at 01:00 PM |

[oceanview]

lets see where it goes.

[Lancey Howard]

"There's something very sinister going on here that really troubles me," Weldon told FOX News on Thursday, blasting the Sept. 11 commission for not taking the claims more seriously. He said some panel members were trying to smear Shaffer and Able Danger.

"What's the Sept. 11 commission got to hide?" Weldon asked. "The commission is trying to spin this because they're embarrassed about what's coming out. In two weeks with two staffers, I've uncovered more in this regard than they did with 80 staffers and $15 million of taxpayer money."

Weldon added that at least five people on the federal payroll will testify under oath about the validity of the Able Danger intelligence.

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

Wow!!!
God bless Congressman Curt Weldon.

[YaYa123]

I think it's significant today, Pentagon spokesman changes his tune. The statement du jour begins....

" There is no reason to doubt the very specific recollections people have...."

And this after a week or more of the Pentagon creating doubt about Shaeffer's memory, and Phillpott's memory.