Able Danger: Pentagon Spikes Witnesses While Shaffer Reveals New Source

The New York Times reports this evening that the Pentagon has blocked its military witnesses from testifying on Able Danger at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings tomorrow. Senator Arlen Specter registered his surprise but plans on holding the hearings anyway (h/t: AJ Strata):

The Pentagon said today that it had blocked a group of military officers and intelligence analysts from testifying at an open Congressional hearing about a highly classified military intelligence program that, the officers have said, identified a ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks as a potential terrorist more than a year before the attacks.

The announcement came a day before the officers and intelligence analysts had been scheduled to testify about the program, known as Able Danger, at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. ...

Mr. Specter said his staff had talked to all five of the potential witnesses and found that "credibility has been established" for all of them.

"There are quite a few credible people who are prepared to testify that Mohamed Atta was identified long before 9/11," he said. "Now maybe there's more than one Mohamed Atta. Or maybe there's some mistake. But that's what we're trying to find out."

The Pentagon might think that withdrawing its witnesses will keep Able Danger from breaking wide open, but they will find themselves sorely mistaken. This only demonstrates that the program found something that the Pentagon still wants hidden. If that includes a finding that their program not only found Atta and other AQ terrorists over a year before the attacks, but also predicted the USS Cole attack three weeks before it happened, and that the Pentagon shut down the program anyway, eighteen Senators will want to know why.

In fact, the withdrawal of the witnesses clearly shows that the story has substance and isn't a case of mistaken identity. Had this just been an identification of a second Mohammed Atta, as Specter postulates, the Pentagon should have no problem putting its witnesses on the stand. Nothing about a mistaken identity would create a classification problem for the hearing tomorrow.

QT Monster has a transcript from tonight's interview of LTC Tony Shaffer on the Jerry Doyle radio show. Shaffer says Donald Rumsfeld himself gave the order to stop the witnesses from appearing at the Judiciary Committee hearing:

JD: Well, when you say DoD, where's this coming from at DoD? Is this instructions to DoD from higher ups? Is this people in DoD who are afraid of what information gets out? I mean who is the person who's making this happen? AS: What I will tell you is I was told by 2 DoD officials today directly that it is their understanding that the Secretary of Defense directed that we not testify tomorrow. That is my understanding.

However, Shaffer says that former Major Eric Kleinstadt, now a civilian contractor, will still testify at the panel. Kleinstadt received the orders to destroy the Able Danger database. Specter's insistence that the hearings go forward probably hinges on Kleinstadt's ability to testify to the information that got destroyed, who ordered its destruction, and why. From that point, the committee could unravel an entire command sequence that will uncover how Able Danger got missed by the 9/11 Commission.

Another interesting fact got mentioned in Shaffer's interview. He spoke about a Dr. Eileen Pricer. One of the more mysterious potential sources of the Able Danger story involved a female PhD that could corroborate Shaffer and Phillpott, the woman who actually developed the Atta identification in the first place. I Googled Eileen Pricer and got just one hit -- but it's a doozy.

It turns out that Dr. Pricer testified before a closed session of Congressional subcommittee on national security exactly one month after 9/11. That testimony isn't available, but Rep. Christopher Shays mentions her on the record in the next day's public testimony:

Mr. Shays. In a briefing we had yesterday, we had Eileen Pricer, who argues that we don't have the data we need because we don't take all the public data that is available and mix it with the security data. And just taking public data, using, you know, computer systems that are high-speed and able to digest, you know, literally floors' worth of material, she can take relationships that are seven times removed, seven units removed, and when she does that, she ends up with relationships to the bin Laden group where she sees the purchase of chemicals, the sending of students to universities. You wouldn't see it if you isolated it there, but if that unit is connected to that unit, which is connected to that unit, which is connected to that unit, you then see the relationship. So we don't know ultimately the authenticity of how she does it, but when she does it, she comes up with the kind of answer that you have just asked, which is a little unsettling. Unsettling? Christopher Shays described Able Danger thirty-one days after the 9/11 attacks. What else did Eileen Pricer tell the Congressional subcommittee on national security on October 11, 2001? Did Pricer tell Shays that the information no longer existed but did at one time?

Senator Specter should invite Christopher Shays to have a seat on the witness bench, and he should also start issuing subpoenas for the witnesses that the Pentagon wants to silence. We need answers, and we need to know that our country will fight terrorism with every tool at its disposal.

my notes so far:

Biden says he is here because of his high regard for Curt Weldon, and much he told me I was unaware of , and it turns out to be true.

Specter and Biden both are vouching for Weldon. Biden says Weldon is a strong republican but he has no political agenda here. Biden says his staff verifies Able Danger uncovered Atta before 9-ll. Biden is disappointed, can't understand why the DoD witnesses have been pulled...Biden thinks this is a mistake. Biden says Specter never takes no for an answer, and Biden expects Specter to pursue those witnesses.

Biden has to leave, will stay as long as possible, and hopes the Pentagon will reverse itself. Biden says he's seen no reason for their action.

Senator Kyle welcomes Weldon, appreciates his efforts, blah blah. Klye says we are going to have a lot of work ahead of us. Kyle agrees with Specter that their committee must do a lot of work on posse commitattas in order to resolve problems.

No one elsse on the committee there, This is a big diss!

Weldon begins reading, thanks Biden and Kyle for showing up.

Able Danger existed. 5 have told me and your staff that Atta and 3 other terrrorists were identified before 9-ll.
Weldon makes the point: The pentagon says the 5 can't testify because of classified information, but wweeks ago said all the Able Danger info was all open source information, not classified.

Weldon says it was a 9-ll commission member who encouraged him to investigate Able Danger.

Biden elicits the informaition "
Able Danger started in 98, terminated in 2000.

Biden asked why was Able Danger shut down.
Weldon says important names were included in data mining. (It was Condeleeza Rice)
this was prototype operation, so sensitive to coincidental, embarrassing information.

Weldon says it was significant reason Able Danger was shut down.

Massive data mining is the same info Dems and Reps use in gathering voter information.

Biden says he's inclined to accept what the witnesses would have said as truthful, the part that confuses Biden is it started in the Clinton administration, continued through Bush administration. Biden doesn't understand why Pentagon is so adament it be hidden. Doesn't understand why a cover -up is necessary. to protect Clinton? to protect Bush?

Biden will submit questions in writing.

Specter asks about "character assasination' Weldon says witnesses were threatened, LTC Schaaeffffer haad his security clearance removed day before yesterday. Weldon says Pentagon's Larry Dirita questioned the memory of Philpottt.

Weldon says the pentagon did not conduct a formal investigation. No notes, not supoenas, just "informal" meetings.

Eileen Prisser (sp) concurs Atta was identified by Able Danger before 9-ll.

Clines Smith (sp) is contractor who will tesstify today who told him to destroy Able Danger data, and threatened with loss of job andd possible jail if he refused.

General Lambert was the Able Danger customer who wasn't told data was destroyed.

Kyle will "game" why pentagon might want to keep testimony from being made public.
Because it might reveal ability, might tip somebody off they were part of an investigation.

Weldon says he agrees with Kyle those concerns are bogus. The information was open source, not classified. "Vote Smart" is the political project to ID voters....it's the same as Able Danger. 'you mean we can use open source mining for votes, but not for national security?"

Grassley makes an appearance, he hopes despite the Pentagon's resisstance, that Specter will continue to pursue this. Grassley sayss, "you can't have the pentagon hiding information from the congress." What's at stake here is whether we are going to let the Pentagon prrevent us from doing their jobs. All those stars and ribbons must not prevent us from doing our jobs.
Grassley will submit questions in writing.

Two weeks after 9-ll, Able Danger info fwas taken to Weldon. Weldon took info to Steven Hadley. Hadley asked, "where'd you get this info on Atta and the Brooklyn Cell?"
Hadley said, "ive got to show this to the man", meaning the president. Hadley was deputy national security chairman.

Slate Gorton has written a letter to Specter which will be put into the record. Damn! I wish Specter had read it aloud. !!
Weldon leaves witness table.

Three lawyers comprise 2nd panel. They speak for their clients.

Mark Zaid, looks very young. He says he's here as surrogate, his lawfirm represents covert clientss involved with national security

LTC Schaeffer, James Smith, private contractor, are his clients.

Zaid says sthis is not a partisan issue, both sides involved in CYA. Nothing is classified
No Pentagon official has told Zaid they were concerned with classified info getting out.

Specter: What knowledge do you have about the allegation about the destruction of documents:

Answer: It's correct. I deleted all data.

We had collected data and an unclassified all source data source charts that we had produced as well as one or two charts that were provided to us but we'd already gone beyond their analysis.

Specter: What kind of information was deleted?

Answer: Everything. We had done analysis of AD and tried to get worldwide perspective of where this group - AQ - operated. No specific operation within the US but only a presence of what was known.

Info was deleted in May/June 2000.

Visited by inhouse general counsel to remind me of the intelligence operations we were operating under. Army Regulation 3-81-10 and I brought a coyp with me. We can temporarily retain info about US persons not to exceed 90 (?) days. While we were shut down we couldn't do further analysis of the data.

It was a friendly visit, not adversarial. He told me to delete the data or we'd go to jail because of regulations.

We had to abide by info that says we can only retain info for 90 days.

Is there a relationship between those regulations and Posse Comatatus? (sp)

Only from an intelligence perspective.

Specter: Explain it to me.

Answer: We could conduct intel analysis and collect info on US persons. Posse Comatatus was never brought up at our level. We stayed with the army regulation.

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