Wedneday, Pat Roberts (R-9th Circle of Hell)
asked the Pentagon's Inspector General to investigate claims the role of Doug 'Idiot Boy' Feith and the Office of Special Plans' in manipulating pre-war intelligence.
The request asked to determine if Feith and the OSP "wielded excessive influence over intelligence that claimed Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction."
According to the Reuters report:
Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, asked the Pentagon's inspector general to look into the activities of Feith's office after officials stopped cooperating with a Senate probe of prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Gee, got something to hide?
More after the cut.
A spokesperson for Roberts said:
"This is in response to problems we had getting them to testify. To get a good look at the situation, (the committee) asked the IG to look into it."
The action by Roberts was confounded by Democrats, who feel the IG investigation could delay the Phase II report by up to a year.
Ranking Democrat Jay Rockefeller was quick to say that the IG report wouldn't be the final word on Feith/OSP conduct:
"In no way does the vice chairman believe the IG's investigation should be a substitute for the committee's work. The committee agreed to look at this and it needs to fulfill its commitment."
Update [2005-11-10 3:17:10 by jorndorff]:
Reuters is also reporting another investigation currently being conducted by the Pentagon's Inspector General. The case involves Lt. Col. Anthony Schaffer, who had his security clearance revoked a short time ago. The IG is investigating whether his clearance was revoked due to public statements he made regarding his involvement with Able Danger.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the inspector general began reviewing Shaffer's case after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld received a written request on October 20 from Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services.
...
U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who has championed Able Danger and other data-mining projects, told reporters on Wednesday that Able Danger also uncovered evidence of a threat to U.S. interests in Yemen two days before the 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole, which killed 17 sailors.
Weldon, who attributed his information to Phillpott, said the Able Danger team passed along the warning through proper channels but no word of danger ever reached the Cole.
"They sent it up but they don't know what happened," Weldon said. "That's part of what needs to be investigated."