The White House reversed itself and promised the Senate Intelligence Committee access to all materials requested for its inquiry into prewar intelligence on Iraq, the committee chairman said Sunday.
It seems strange that Jay Rockefeller had to learn about this on CNN "Late Edition."
This has the odor of a partisan negotiation. Keeping the top ranking Democrat on the committee out of the loop on this latest development until a CNN interview has a suspicious aroma. Makes me nervous.
It has been encouraging to see Roberts (R) and Rockefeller (D) work together in demanding WH and Pentagon cooperation. I hope that Roberts has not caved to pressure and chosen party loyalty. And I hope he has not agreed to make this inquiry go away?
AP News item:
White House acquiescence, on behalf of the National Security Council, came to committee staff members late Friday along with notification from the Pentagon that it also would cooperate, Roberts said on CNN's "Late Edition."
The committee's top Democrat, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, said he wants "to see the documentation before ... I'm satisfied. I want to know that we really have it in hand."
Roberts, who was in Kansas, spoke just after Rockefeller, in Washington, had complained that the White House and Defense Department were "being very resistant."
Rockefeller had just finished saying, "We have to have those documents. We're going to get those documents, one way or another," when Roberts was asked if he concurred.
"Well, that's yesterday's story," the chairman said.
Roberts said he had not had the chance to call Rockefeller over the weekend to report the latest development: the White House's agreement "in a spirit of cooperation" to the committee's demands.