Posted on 11/06/2003 7:16:56 AM PST by areafiftyone
Senate Democrats were forced on the defensive yesterday after Republicans obtained a leaked memorandum outlining an opposition strategy for criticizing the administration's use of intelligence prior to the invasion of Iraq.
The contents of the memo, first reported late Tuesday by conservative radio and Fox News Channel commentator Sean Hannity, prompted harsh condemnations by Republicans, including members of the Intelligence Committee.
It also prompted calls from both sides of the aisle for further investigation.
Republicans demanded scrutiny of whether Senate rules had been violated by the drafting of the partisan memo, while Democrats demanded a probe of how the document fell into Republican hands.
The development instantly knocked the wind out of intelligence panel Democrats, who in recent weeks have criticized Republicans increasingly boldly for not scrutinizing the Bush administration's handling of intelligence prior to the war.
This strategy memo lays bare what we've started to see for some time: an orchestrated effort by Democrats at a time of war to improperly use an intelligence investigation as a weapon against President Bush, said Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.
The memo was drafted by Democratic staff on the Intelligence Committee and was not circulated or approved by Vice Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). Hannity attributed the leak to a source on the committee.
Kyl, along with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and committee members Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), took to the chamber's floor yesterday to blast what they called evidence of Democratic efforts to exploit the panel's investigation for partisan political advantage.
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) weighed in from across the Capitol to accuse Democrats of wanting to play politics with our intelligence agencies, as those agencies fight the war on terror.
Republican Sens. Kyl, Richard Shelby (Ala.), Larry Craig (Idaho), Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Gordon Smith (Ore.) blasted the Democrats over the memo at a press conference yesterday afternoon. They invited Roberts to join them, but he did not show up. This followed an afternoon during which Rockefeller appeared to pull back from his most stringent accusations about how the GOP obtained the memo.
Roberts parallel de-escalation may make it more difficult for Democrats to resume the tough course they have taken against him.
Speaking of the impact on Democratic efforts to probe pre-war decision making, a GOP leadership aide said: This is very damaging to them. Why should the administration cooperate with Democratic demands when the information is going to be used for partisan purposes?
Democratic pressure on Republican members of the Intelligence Committee hit a peak two weeks ago when Democrats including Rockefeller, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.) and Bob Graham (Fla.), the panel's former chairman, held an open hearing, sponsored by the Democratic Policy Committee, on the intelligence issues.
Afterward, Rockefeller told a press conference that the panel's GOP chairman was shielding the president from scrutiny.
Over the course of less than 24 hours, what Democrats had viewed as an effective line of criticism against the administration became dramatically blunted and their air of indignation had turned to one of conciliation.
I would suggest to my colleagues that there is reason for concern today and it is not for the content of this draft staff memo, Rockefeller said yesterday morning.
It was an internal memo, a draft. At some point, the committee and the senate are going to have to explore the chain of events surrounding this draft memo since it raises serious questions about whether the majority is obtaining unauthorized access to private internal materials of the minority.
Other Democrats rallied behind the charge.
I'm sure Senator Rockefeller doesn't make it lightly, said Daschle spokeswoman Ranit Schmelzer.
However, by yesterday afternoon Rockefeller was trying to patch things up with colleagues on the committee.
I spoke to Pat on the floor and said, We've been saying things over the last 24 hours, and I think it's really important that the committee come first, country come first, post-9-11 come first. The other stuff is nothing compared to that.
Rockefeller said he wanted to appear with Roberts on two television shows they'd been invited on to talk about building bridges between Republicans and Democrats on the panel and coming back together again.
Rockefeller said Roberts agreed wholeheartedly.
Roberts extended the olive branch on the floor of the Senate yesterday when he said, The answer is simple: We go back to work. We have a documents yet to review. We have a handful of documents yet to conduct.
I urge the Democratic members of the committee to disavow this strategy of attack and join with us to work.
My guess is it had to be one of the Dem members of that committee.
He was "Zellmerized".
Rockefeller said Roberts agreed wholeheartedly.
Roberts extended the olive branch on the floor of the Senate yesterday when he said, The answer is simple: We go back to work. We have a documents yet to review. We have a handful of documents yet to conduct.
I urge the Democratic members of the committee to disavow this strategy of attack and join with us to work
This is the key...
Rockefeller writes the memo, "Roberts extended the olive branch"...Which one shows weakness?
The key to why Senate Republicans are worthless and why I don't give to the RNC.
With the Pat Roberts attitude there will never be a "filibuster proof" Senate, no matter how many Republicans there are.
They have no programs, no direction, no answers and no morals.
Their lust for power is all that drives them.
How sad it is for those voters who are blinded by their desire to always vote for these failed policies and their belief they are doing what is right for their party of choice.
They should have had that attitude prior to their attempt at treason. The buck stops with Rocky, he needs to go. In fact the lot of them should be thrown out and tried for treason against the United States.
Ann Coulter pegged them in her book "Treason", they have handed in the evidence against them, themselves. The ball should be taken and run with. Democrats have no business any where near matters of national security because they are too corrupt and anti-American.
They have spent decades attempting to destroy this nation and constitution and replace it with their insane vision of a socialist paradise against all evidence to the contrary that socialism has spelled the death of every nation in history that has embraced it.
They should pay the price, prison. Upon release they should be stripped of their citizenship and deported to the socialist paradise France.
Socialism no longer has a place in this Constitutional Republic.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. - United States Code Title 18 Section 2381.
Yes, Dog, I remember your prediction.
Politicians have neither "honor" nor "shame." That is why they are politicians. If you need proof of this, look at the Clintons and their pimps. They are totally void of honor and shame. It does not exist in them.
My feelings exactly. Durban used Roberts as toilet paper yesterday and flushed him down the drain. Disgusting...
The Democratic Party is undermining America's abilily to wage winning the current war in Iraq while American lives are at stake, while plotting and conspiring to aid and abet America's enemy....
In other words -- The Democratic Party are Traitors, and an American 'Nuremburg Trial' needs to be established.
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