you can't make this stuff up! the libs have absolutely 
shame
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.
you can't make this stuff up! the libs have absolutely shame
Rockefeller is a liar and a traitor and should be kicked out of the Senate
And Senator Roberts should be b*tch-slapped for being stupid.
On the day this story broke, Hannity implied that he had received his copy of the memo from a Democrat who was revolted by their sleazy strategy. I don't know whether it was a staffer or a member of Congress.
Michael
I said this would happen!
Deal .....if we can start a probe into who on the committee wrote the memo.....and what Senators recieved a copy...and who ordered this memo to be written.
A sucker might be born every minute, but do all of them have to be Republican senators?
Resign, my ass. He should be arrested and jailed.
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