Democratic House Intelligence - The New Oxymoron

A Democratic staffer has had his access to classified info restricted while an investigation unfolds into whether he was a source of the leak of parts of a National Intelligence Estimate to the NY Times last September.

From the Times itself:

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Peter Hoekstra, has banned a Democratic staff member from access to classified information because he suspects the staff member may have leaked a national intelligence estimate to The New York Times last month, a committee spokesman said Thursday night.

The spokesman, Jamal D. Ware, said the staff member had requested a copy of the intelligence estimate, on terrorism, from the office of the director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte.

He received the document on Sept. 21, two days before the Sept. 23 article in The Times.

Mr. Ware said that while there was no evidence that the staff member had leaked the document, the “coincidence” of timing led to the suspension.

He said that while an internal investigation was conducted the staff member, whom he declined to name, was not permitted to enter the committee’s secure space or review classified documents.

Democrats on the committe are outraged, as well they might be:

Democrats say the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee had no grounds to suspend a staff member who's come under scrutiny for the leak of a secret intelligence assessment.

...The Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, Jane Harman of California, wrote to Hoekstra that she was "appalled" by his action, which was "without basis." She has demanded that Hoekstra "immediately reinstate the staffer's access to classified information."

Yeah, yeah, Jane Harman - she is the ranking Democrat now, but it has been reported that Nancy Pelosi, en route to her own position a while back, cut a deal with the Congressional Black Caucus to move Alcee Hastings up to the Chairmanship.  And why not?  It's only national security we are talking about.  Michael Barone is cogent on Ms. Harman's problems (and did you know she was a self-financing Dem because of her hubby?  I hear that now.)

Of course, Pelosi may not have the votes to pull this off, if we can believe the Wash Times.  Dems in but Pelosi out?  That would brighten a grim November.

MORE:  Here is what ought to be a permalink into the NY Times archive for the original article.  The sourcing is mentioned as follows:

More than a dozen United States government officials and outside experts were interviewed for this article, and all spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence document. The officials included employees of several government agencies, and both supporters and critics of the Bush administration. All of those interviewed had either seen the final version of the document or participated in the creation of earlier drafts. These officials discussed some of the document’s general conclusions but not details, which remain highly classified.

The Times makes the same point in their follow-up, which identifies the staffer as Larry Hanauer and tells us this:

Mr. Hanauer, who joined the committee staff last year after working for the Defense Department and the Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm, remains on the panel payroll and retains his security clearance.

We knew all that, and more.

STILL MORE:  TIME reports that Jane Harman is being investigated for engaging in politics while trying to save her seniority. 

Comments

[clarice]

He's right about Harman's shift. Until a few months ago she was reasonable and responsible.

In fact, I was surprised at what a good job she was doing--as scandalistas recall she left the Carter administration (after being caught most say in flagrante with her present husband in a govt office) and the WaPo article a day after Carter fired her in which she said her abrupt departure was for "the sake of the children" is still regarded as a classic dance de chutzpah.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

I posted this in the other thread from Mac's site as additional info:

April 25, 2004 WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Julie Breslow, Laurence Hanauer …

Mr. Hanauer, 34, is a consultant on homeland security and intelligence issues at Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm in McLean, Va. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and received a master’s degree in international relations from Tufts. From 1995 to 2003, Mr. Hanauer was a foreign policy adviser in the office of the Secretary of Defense, working primarily on Middle Eastern and European security issues.

Carol

Left by Carol Johnson on October 20th, 2006

[clarice]

Someone--I think cathy--posted a more detailed bil on another thread from source watch--Hanauer was a Clinton appointee to the DoD.

[clarice]

Someone--I think cathy--posted a more detailed biO on another thread from source watch--Hanauer was a Clinton appointee to the DoD.************

[Sara (Squiggler)]

I have a an update with as far as I can tell what is known so far, including the Source Watch info National Security Leaker - UPDATE - Identified - bumped I bumped it from yesterday and intend to keep it up to date as new links come in.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Hoekstra is on Fox right now. He has suspended "the staffer" from access to intelligence and from the committee spaces, but he has not lost his job or pay, yet. Hoekstra was talking about the leaker, but he kept saying "they" and "them." Sloppy? or a hint of more?

[Sue]

He is either the world's most unluckiest person...

He received the document on Sept. 21, two days before the Sept. 23 article in The Times.

...or a doofus of the worst sort.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

AJ adds this to the knowledge base:

Addendum: It seems Mr. Hanauer is not a fan of the Iraq conflict, at least from what we can tell from his own words at a Council of Foreign Relations event in 2005:

QUESTIONER: Larry Hanauer with Booz, Allen, Hamilton. There’s a lot of discussion about regime change, whether it’s something that we or some other outside force instigates, or whether regime change just comes about through ordinary demographic change over time. But I’m wondering if anyone has given thought to really what comes next. The regime change would change the whole political structure, as Ambassador Palmer has said; it would change the economic structure of the country [Iran]. And I think we’re seeing now in Iraq what happens when we pursue regime change without adequately thinking about the aftermath. So I’m wondering what might come next, and who in the U.S. government is thinking about it?

[Davis]

There should not be any Democrats working as staff on committees handling sensitive information. Democratic Senators and House members should have all of their communications monitored, if that is not already being done. No Democrat members of either body should be allowed to travel outside the country on official business, or have communications with representatives of foreign governments.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

AJ also has this:

From this site of a young man working or visiting the Hill (search on Hanauer), I learned Larry Hanauer did a stint on the staff of NY Rep Joseph Crowley, giving Hanauer a NY connection and probably press contacts with the NY Times. Crowley’s official site is here. So that establishes a path to the NY news media.

[Don]

Have you people learned nothing from the infamous Schiavo memo affair-revealed to be written by a Republican staffer when Powerass was just about to go on TV and show how he had proved Dems had written it based on supersecret language analysis?

Hell, I bet there's a post on it in the JOM archives full of your sniveling comments.

In any event, does this poor Dem staffer get habeas corpus rights?

[SlimGuy]

If you look at the list of "TERM MEMBERS" at the CFR site, it has lots of interesting names but one that jumps out along with Hanauer is Amed Chalabi

[Neo]

Is this Booz Allen Hamilton, the same Booz Allen tht did the accounting and oversight of the SWIFT monitoring program ?

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Sounds like Don is just a wee bit afraid that National Security leaks and leakers plays better with the voter than some gay guy's sexual fantasies.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Neo -- I have been wondering why Booz Allen Hamilton sounded so familiar?

[Jane]

His wife is a DC Judge.

http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/about/media/press/2002/121202.jsp

[SunnyDay]

There is also some speculation that this is a little tit for tat with Harman for releasing the internal investigation info on Cunningham.

Clarise - I agree about Harman - she seemed to be sensible, then suddenly changed.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

From their website:
http://www.boozallen.com/

Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading global consulting firm, has more than 18,000 employees serving clients on six continents. Integrating the full range of consulting capabilities, Booz Allen is the one firm that helps government and commercial clients solve their toughest problems with services in strategy, operations, organization and change, and information technology.

[Sue]

In any event, does this poor Dem staffer get habeas corpus rights?

Not in here he doesn't.

However, if he is charged with something criminal, I'm sure some enterprising civil liberties lawyer will manage to get him a few of his constitutional rights that have been taken away during this administration. Habeas may or may not be one of them, though.

[Sue]

Per AJ Strata

He works for Harman.

[SlimGuy]

There is a rather lenthy three part article series starting with this link

http://militaryweek.com/columns/withoutreservation.php?id=9

Of someone who was at the pentagon when the Iraq war runup was going on.

Lots of detailed info, but seems to sound a little like someone with an axe to grind.

Was originally posted as the same series over at American Conservative.

[Gary Maxwell]

No speculation SunnyDay. The Republican vice chair ( the guy who wrote the letter to Hoekstra I am drawing a blank on the name was interviewed on TV earlier today. He basically said he was angry with the political plays by the Democrats on the intelligence committee and singled out Harman for reproach for releasing stuff on Cunnigham to the media cuz she wanted to make Republicans look bad. So he said basically if we are going air dirty linen in public why not tell the American people the likely leaker on a matter of National Security. Hoekstra has only pulled this staffer's security clearance. He has a job and is getting paid. If Dems dont like it tough. They showed the Republicans how to fight dirty. If Libby had to resign, why shouldn't this guy stay away from the sensitive stuff ( assuming anything coming from the CIA can meet that description ) until we know?

[clarice]

His wife isn't a judge. She's a magistrate who handles cases involving abused children.

Different thing. Judges have to be nominated by a committee with broad reach--from three nominees for every slot, the president picks one.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Jane -- a social services do-gooder type. Save me from them! Witness protection program? Yikes! Oh, be nice Sara, she is obviously a smart woman and probably feels your pain.

[Neo]

does this poor Dem staffer get habeas corpus rights?

Of course, but JOM reserves all claims to corpus delicti requests.

[Gary Maxwell]

OT OT OT

BIG NEWS Supreme Court smacks down the 9th circuit again. Reverses and remands the Arizona voter ID law decision. At least in Arizona for this election you cant vote with your Malibu grand prix card. Or even worse with no ID at all.

[Neo]

Larry Hanauer
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Tufts-Fletcher-AlumniClubs-DC
hanauerl@verizon.net
Council on Foreign Relations. Membership Roster. 2004

As the momentum for war began to build in early 2002, Wolfowitz and Feith beefed up the intelligence unit and created an Iraq war-planning unit in the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia Affairs section, run by Deputy Undersecretary of Defense William Luti, under the rubric "Office of Special Plans," or OSP; the new unit's director was Abram N. Shulsky. By then, Wurmser had moved on to a post as senior adviser to Undersecretary of State John Bolton, yet another neocon, who was in charge of the State Department's disarmament, proliferation, and WMD office and was promoting the Iraq war strategy there. Shulsky's OSP, which incorporated the secret intelligence unit, took control, banishing veteran experts‚ -- including Joseph McMillan, James Russell, Larry Hanauer, and Marybeth McDevitt‚ -- who, despite years of service to NESA, either were shuffled off to other positions or retired. For the next year, Luti and Shulsky not only would oversee war plans but would act aggressively to shape the intelligence product received by the White House.

[SlimGuy]

The three part article I referenced above now turns out to be authored by a person who is very much on the Bush Lied side of the fence about the Iraq war runup.

She appears on many of theose sites
Karen Kwiatkowski is her name.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Well, well, I guess we now know why Harman went ballistic.

[topsecretk9]

Karen Kwiatkowski is her name.

VIPs

[rob]

Turns out he did just for payback:

LAHOOD: Yeah, I’ll tell you why I did it, Jane. The reason why I did it is because Jane Harman released the Duke Cunningham — who sat on our Intelligence committee — report, in violation of the trust that she gave to Chairman Hoekstra, in saying that it would be released in a bipartisan way. She released it arbitrarily, and I’m furious about that. She betrayed the trust of the committee because that report was to be released in a bipartisan way. She released it to the media just to embarrass, 21 days before the election, Republicans on the committee. That’s the reason that I released my letter today.

ANCHOR: So it’s payback?

LAHOOD: Look it, this is–we’re in the political season, and if the ranking member on our committee wants to play politics, there’re some of us on the other side that can equally play politics, and I’m not afraid to do it.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

NEO, do you have a source for the CFR info?

[azredneck]

Too late! My signature was good enuff for mailin ballot. (course it always will be under that statute)

[Sara (Squiggler)]

VIPs? What?

[Davis]

Karen Kwiatkowski was a desk officer at the Pentagon during the run-up to the Iraq cmapaign, and claims to have handled some of the pre-war intelligence. Based on her previous intelligence jobs, she should not be allowed to publish articles.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Hired Jonathan Turley, Constitutional lawyer.

Hoeskstra says other things going on in Intelligence Committee leave no doubt his actions were well warranted. Me thinks Hanauer is in mucho trouble grande.

[Neo]

http://www.namebase.org/xham/Larry-Hanauer.html

[8track]

So no one else had this document before/besides the Democratic staffer?

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Turley's George Washing U. bio:

Jonathan Turley J.B. and Maurice Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law; Director of the Environmental Law Advocacy Center; Executive Director, Project for Older Prisoners

Email: jturley@law.gwu.edu
Telephone: (202) 994-7001
Fax: (202) 994-9811
Mailing address

Education: B.A. University of Chicago; J.D., Northwestern University

Biographical Sketch: Jonathan Turley is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal theory to tort law. After a stint at Tulane Law School, Professor Turley joined the GW Law faculty in 1990, and in 1998 became the youngest chaired professor in the school’s history. He is the founder and executive director of the Project for Older Prisoners (POPS). He has written over three dozen academic articles that have appeared in a variety of leading law journals at Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Northwestern, and other schools. He most recently completed a three-part study of the historical and constitutional evolution of the military system. Professor Turley has served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades, including his representation of the Area 51 workers at a secret air base in Nevada; the nuclear couriers at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Rocky Flats grand jury in Colorado; Dr. Eric Foretich, the husband in the famous Elizabeth Morgan custody controversy; and four former U.S. attorneys general during the Clinton impeachment litigation. Professor Turley has also served as counsel in a variety of national security and terrorism cases, and has been ranked as one of the top ten lawyers handling military cases. He has served as a consultant on homeland security and constitutional issues, and is a frequent witness before the House and Senate on constitutional and statutory issues as well as tort reform legislation. He is also a nationally recognized legal commentator; he ranked 38th in the top 100 most cited ‘public intellectuals’ in a recent study by Judge Richard Posner and was found to be the second most cited law professor in the country. He is a member of the USA Today board of contributors and the recipient of ‘2005 Single Issue Advocate of the Year’—the annual opinion award for the Aspen Institute and The Week magazine. His more than 400 articles on legal and policy issues have appeared i

Current Semester Courses: Environmental Crimes Project, Environmental Law Clinic, Environmental Legislation Proj, Prisoners Project, Torts

[Gary Maxwell]

Boy the moonbat seem to be in disarray about a repsonse on this. Time for the townhouse memo to get the word out. Lets see Hoekstra is a political hack and LaHood plays politics with National Security. Bet me. How they will keep a straight face after what Harman did will be the true marvel to anyone who knows what is going on, well except the credulous media, who most likely will play along with the whole outrage.

Afterthought, if you have not lost your pay or job and the investigation is likely to show that, why would you go to the expense of a high priced Constitutional lawyer? $300-500 per hour makes it seem like there might be fire cuz I see smoke...

[topsecretk9]

Sara

Scroll down to

--A Call to Patriotic Whistleblowing

September 9, 2004 . Washington, DC---

and see the SIGNATORIES atSweetness and Light

All the usual suspects.

[Gary Maxwell]

Maybe this Lahood cat needs a promotion to a leadership position? Seems like a guy who understands it ait beanbag. Worst thing that has happened to house leadership is that Gingrich, Armey and DeLay are gone. These guys were not afraid to fight back with the Dems. I miss that, even if I did not agree with Armey and DeLay on a bunch of matters.

[topsecretk9]

--Hired Jonathan Turley, Constitutional lawyer.

Hoeskstra says other things going on in Intelligence Committee leave no doubt his actions were well warranted. Me thinks Hanauer is in mucho trouble grande.

Posted by: Sara (Squiggler) | October 20, 2006 at 03:17 PM--

There is already an empaled grand jury in West Virginia...McCarthy, Tice...

[Sara (Squiggler)]

8track -- apparently he requested it from Negroponte the Intelligence Czar, probably on behalf of Harman, as I doubt Negroponte would have released it to a staffer without the Member's request. 2 days later it was on the front page of the NYTs.

[azredneck]

LaHood for Speaker!!!

[Jane]

Sheesh - this story has been up for 10 minutes and I'm already falling behind. How can a senate aide also work for Booz Allen?

I know a bunch of people who work there. Hmmmm.

I've never been terribly impressed with Turley. He should have gotten his education in reverse order.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Thanks TS, so Hanauer is connected to Karen Kwiatkowski and she is a signatore on the "start leaking meme" by Larry Johnson, et al. I think I'm going to get sick.

What is going on with MOM? Why do these people remain free to roam around DC?

[Jane]

Okay I cleared that up - he left Booz Allen to work for Harmon. But I'm still not impressed with Turley.

[topsecretk9]

How did you guys find out he hired Turley?

[Davis]

Don't even suggest that Pelosi might not be Speaker if the Dems sqeek out an (increasingly) unlikely win. The image of her in that position is enough to swing 20 districts.

[Jane]

Surprise Surprise: Karen Kwiatkowski has a blog!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-kwiatkowski/constitution-shmonstitut_b_11975.html

[Jane]

How did you guys find out he hired Turley?

I heard it on Fox

[topsecretk9]

I heard it on Fox

oh, thanks.

[Jane]

Maybe this Lahood cat needs a promotion to a leadership position?

Lahood has a reputation of being a good even handed arbiter of difficult issues. He is often called on in committee when a deal needs to be reached - again according to Fox. It's obvious Harmon's leak really made him mad.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Jane -- I know how you feel. I'm trying to keep up with all the brains here and update my own site as we go. Getting confusing already and the story is only a couple hours old.

[Jane]

stop

Please

[Jane]

where is the italics stopper when we need him?

[topsecretk9]

Get the feeling the Bushies sorta set a honeypot for the leakers, by never going too aggressive --the leakers have gotten cockier, brazen, coordinated ( ahem conspiracy like charge) and now there can be no doubt of the crime since there is so many leaks?

and there is that quiet grand jury in place?

[topsecretk9]

off?

[Terrye]

Well well well, got caught with their pants did they not?

[Gary Maxwell]

Want to bet some Dems are wishing the guy with the pants down again was Foley and not an aide to the ranking minority member of the House Intelligence committee?

[SlimGuy]

Karen Kwiatkowski is a staff journal contributor at Military.com

May sound right wing by the name , but not so.

[topsecretk9]

--not an aide to the ranking minority member of the House Intelligence committee?--

IIRC...right after the leak, and then POS ordered it released, Harmen was the one to pipe up there was more or some such.

[MayBee]

Kwiatkowski is a LaRouche person and unreliable as any kind of source:

n her expose to the LaRouche organization, the substance of which was later published in The American Conservative magazine, Kwiatkowski alleged that there was a purge of desk officers within International Security Affairs. Not true. Kwiatkowski may have been upset that some colleagues received promotions when she did not. For example, Kwiatkowski implies that Larry Hanauer ceased being an Israel desk officer. But, he subsequently became special assistant to Jay Garner; that's a promotion, not a purge.

http://www.nationalreview.com/rubin/rubin200405180836.asp

[Davis]

Karen Kwiatkowski claims to be Libertarian. So it is no surprise that she also gets published on Lew Rockwell's website. She didn't last long in the Pentagon and retired; now she thinks she is an intellectual. Her inside information is 3 or 4 years old, but she still shouldn't be allowed to write about it.

[roanoke]

The staffer acted appropriately by requesting the document for a committee member, and Hoekstra’s "unilateral commencement" of an investigation violates committee rules, Harman added.

She said Hoekstra admitted to her that his action was retaliation for the release of the parts of the Cunningham report.

"If you have a problem with me, why not deal with me directly?" Harman ended her letter.

The GOP leadership is capitalizing on the fight.

"I hope Democrats would never knowingly and illegally leak sensitive information just to score political points," said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), "and that's what an investigation would determine.

"It is absolutely necessary that the House Intel Committee conduct a thorough review of the illegal leak of intelligence to The New York Times in wartime," Blunt said. "I support Chairman Hoekstra’s decision to suspend a staffer who may have orchestrated the leak until all the facts are known."

The Hill

It can't be about what's best for the country, it can't be about an abundance of caution when it comes to matters of national security-nope Harman resorting to the theme of Democrats-"It's all about ME!"

You pair that with Ford's performance and you've got a party so long out of power they no longer understand the concept of acting responsible.

{I know this is off topic -but Ford trying to get Corker to defend Iraq within a sound bite...that is school yard mentality on Ford's part. The media has let them get away with attacks and no sustance for so long that we are about to see the inexperienced irresponsible, and untested by even the tough questions take the reins of the true power of the nation-"the purse strings"- The House.

Holy crap, and people are spinning "that" as a good thing.

[clarice]

I'm reasonably certain they did expect this and have the goods on the guy.

[The Unbeliever]

and there is that quiet grand jury in place?

My sources tell me that Dem staffer will be indicted within 48 business hours. Sealed, of course.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Jay Garner was the Iraq guy after Brehmer wasn't he? He didn't last very long and I heard recently he was disgruntled.

[Davis]

Like Tony Snow said, there was nothing in that dated NIE that hadn't already been made public. So whoever leaked it is going down for nothing and will never work again in Washington.

[roanoke]

Harman is fighting to get the guy's security clearance re-instated.

Hopefully an indictment takes care of that.

We haven't lawyered that comon sense approach out of government have we?

[Sue]

If Harman is not involved in the leak, she could have scored some political points by saying something as simple as "if my staffer is involved in the leak of national security information, his security clearance should be pulled." That she didn't say that makes me wonder about what she knew and when she knew it.

[SlimGuy]

Aj links to a pdf of a press release naming Hanauer as newly hired Harmon staffer.

So this links him back to all of the early hits on Hanauer information.

[SlimGuy]

Sue

What is even worse is she demanded immediate reinstatement of the clearance..a definite no no in security circles.

[Jane]

Sara,

You got an insta-launch! Congrats!

[Sara (Squiggler)]

There is no way Negroponte released that document to a staffer without Harman's or the Chairman's approval. Being Harman's staffer, I think she is going to get dirtied by this too.

[jerry]

Ha, if you're looking for an Intelligence oxymoron kingpin take a peek at Pat Roberts -- Mr. Bad for the Party is Bad for the Country, except of course it seems the reverse was actually more true.

[MayBee]

Sara-
Jay Garner was the guy before Bremer. He was pulled early due to State Dept/Pentagon wrangling.
Back when people were saying cracking down on the looting and having our military roam the streets were actually making Iraqis hate us. And when the biggest complaint was that we weren't leaving fast enough, not that we didn't have enough troops to maintain the peace.

[roanoke]

Sue

At the least you'd think she'd have more political savy than that-she can't put security first?

Another thing-maybe for the Intelligence Committee-you staff it with guys and gals that you can court martial-military.

No political hacks in there for you Congress "people"!

{OK there's probably some problems with that...}

You know as a Democrat you'd think that Jane could think about the common good when it comes to national security rather than herself.

Who investigates this-the FBI or DOJ?

You have to get it out of the political realm or appearance there of pronto yet the articles are still saying that Hoekstra is going to "interview" the staffer.

Why not let the FBI of DOJ do that-immediately?

[PeterUK]

Sara,

You got an insta-launch! Congrats!

Very well deserved.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Oh my gawd, I think I'm going to faint. I just got an Instalaunch on this. Help, where are smelling salts.

[Lamont P]

How many voters are going to care that a months-old NIE was leaked, when even the White House said there was nothing in it that the President hadn't already discussed? The national security voters are not going to vote Democrat no matter what. And it will just raise the issue of why the report hadn't been issued already in some edited form.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Need to find Hoeskstra's transcript of the Fox interview from earlier. He made it sound like they had been on this for awhile, even though this particular leak is relatively recent. Could the NIE leak have been a trap for former leaks? Maybe that is why the info was so innocuous.

[topsecretk9]

This is interesting...

...More along that theme (many multiple sources) http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/...areas=deception Complete timeline of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: Politicization of intelligence and deception

September 11, 2001-March 17, 2003
In the months leading up to the war with Iraq, Bush administration officials manipulate the intelligence provided to them by analysts in order to drum up support for the invasion. Some analysts complain that they are under pressure to write assessments that support the administration's case for invading Iraq. On March 7, 2002, Knight Ridder reports that various military officials, intelligence employees, and diplomats in the Bush administration have charged “that the administration squelches dissenting views and that intelligence analysts are under intense pressure to produce reports supporting the White House's argument that Hussein poses such an immediate threat to the United States that preemptive military action is necessary.”

[Knight Ridder, 10/7/02 Sources: Larry Hanauer, Andrew Wilkie, Patrick Lang, Larry C. Johnson, Ray McGovern, Greg Thielmann, Patrick G. Eddington, Robin Cook, Several unnamed US intelligence officials, David Albright, Menzies Campbell, Vincent Cannistraro, Bob Graham, Stansfield Turner, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Scott Ritter, Richard A. Clarke, Seymour Hersh, David Albright, Karen Kwiatkowski, Demetrius Perricos, Edward Kennedy, Simon Crean, Joseph Cirincione, Ivan Eland, Mel Goodman, John Prados, Jonathan Dean]

Link doesn't work though.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

If these guys, along with Harman, are hooked up with Larry Johnson, then as far as I'm concerned, they are dirty, dirty, dirty. It also explains many many leaks, wouldn't you say?

[Sue]

You got an insta-launch! Congrats!

What the heck is an insta-launch?

How many voters are going to care that a months-old NIE was leaked,

Are you saying Harman over reacted then?

[Jane]

An Insta-launch is a link by Instapundit. I got one once Sara so I know exactly how you feel. Watch your traffic soar! It's very cool.

[SlimGuy]

Maybe that is why the info was so innocuous.

Posted by: Sara (Squiggler) | October 20, 2006 at 04:47 PM

Dale in Atlanta is ex marine intel officer, he had a long post about the nie docs being useless summaries of 16 intel agencies and it is their concensus document that all have to approve each stop on the ladder.

So you end up with strained baby food by the time it reaches the end.

[Jane]

It also explains many many leaks, wouldn't you say?

Oh I betcha they are all coming from the same network.

[SlimGuy]

TS9

That site works along the bush-lied meme, you get a lot of their output at Huffington post and similiar places

[SlimGuy]

Sara

You also got a link from Macsmind

[roanoke]

Nancy Pelosi just doubled down on stupid-

Nancy decides to gamble with National Security and fight ofr the rights of one staffer-

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to Speaker Hastert today regarding Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra's unilateral suspension of a Democratic staffer's security clearance.

Below is the text of the letter:

October 20, 2006

The Honorable J.
Dennis Hastert

Speaker

United States House of Representatives

H 232 The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

I am writing to reiterate the concerns I expressed to you earlier today about the outrageous action taken by Intelligence Committee Chairman Hoekstra, against a member of the Democratic staff.

There is nothing more important than keeping Americans safe. You and I share the critical goals of protecting our national security and safeguarding the intelligence processes upon which our security depends. Mr. Hoekstra's action furthers neither goal.

The unilateral decision by Mr. Hoekstra to suspend the clearances of a Democratic staff member without consultation with the Ranking Democrat, Congresswoman Harman, or an investigation of any kind is unprecedented and reckless. Any action against a staff member's clearance should come at the conclusion of an investigation, not before one even begins, and a decision to undertake an investigation should only come after consultation with the Ranking Democrat, as required by committee rules.

Update Correction Nancy Pelosi Letter to Hastert

Unilateral.....how about this staffer's unilateral decision to go to the NYT?

How about the fact that Hoekstra called the Dem Committee members a couple of days earlier and gave them a chance to act bilaterally in the interest of national security and suspend the staffer's access to classified materials?

They took a pass on that-instead they chose to fight for one staffer's need to know rather than in abundance of caution, acting and fighting for and taking resbonsibility for National Security.

When Nancy replaces Jane with-Alcee Hastings he will act less self interested....

What was that corruption scandal he was involved in a few years back?

[roanoke]

Italics off.

[Sue]

How many hours has it been since his name was revealed? Plenty of time for Jane and Nancy to go nuclear over stripping him of his clearance. Plenty of time to deny the allegations...

...chirp...chirp...chirp

[clarice]

Congrats, Sara!

[roanoke]

SlimGuy-

So now the Dems will cry entrapment?

[richard mcenroe]

Davis -- "There should not be any Democrats working"... stop right there and you've got it covered.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Bribery, roanoke. He was a Florida judge at the time.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Alcye Hastings was impeached. I watched his impeachment trial on CSPAN. Seems like a lifetime ago.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Jane, the hit counter jumped 300 hits in the first 5 minutes. Whew!

[Sue]

You're everywhere, Squig. Gateway has you linked too. ::grin::

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Sue, I got the impression that his suspension was at least a couple of days ago, so they have had plenty of time. Is there a smell of Rovian hands and real October surprises?

[SlimGuy]

So now the Dems will cry entrapment?

Posted by: roanoke | October 20, 2006 at 05:19 PM

you must be refering to a post next to mine earlier about a possible trapping of him by a setup leak...wasn't a post I did.

However to answer I don't think entrapment will fly.

To many sting operations for example, and I don't think this is a setup, just good forensic work.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

I want you all to know that whatever I do that concerns leaks and leakers, a subject I am very interested in, I owe to all of you. So keep the info coming. I am upholding not only my own, but JOM's honor here, as you will notice with my link back to this post.

Thanks everyone.

I am floating right now, like a little kid, to tell the truth.

[Jason Leoplod]

Hanauer is going to be indicted within 24 monkey business hours,see Loose Lips v Lips Sealed.

[Sue]

I got the impression that his suspension was at least a couple of days ago

I read that, but his name was revealed several hours ago. Still no denial from him, from Jane or anyone. If this goes on much longer, I'll take it by their silence he is the one who leaked to the NYTs. The only question remaining will be did he leak at Harman's request or do it on his own?

[SlimGuy]

Everyone remember there have been a lot of leaks in the last year related to the WOT. My guess is that the Justice Department has a live investigation in the works and that the FBI has a bunch of wiretaps out there to pick up some of this stuff. Time will tell.

[SlimGuy]

Sue

Sara has a Pelosi response letter on her site, so this has to be a few days old. Pelosi ain't that fast.

[Lamont P]

On Fox News earlier:
Rep. LaHood “I’ll tell you why I did it. The reason I did it was because Jane Harman released the Duke Cunningham — who sat on our Intelligence committee — report.”
FNC: “So, it’s payback?”
LaHood “There are some of us on the other side who can equally play politics, and I’m not afraid to do it.”

[clarice]

Why did he get a constitutional lawyer and not a criminal lawyer--big mistake I think.

As far as I know, there is a gj in D.C> still investigating leaks.

Now we should start gathering up all those preposterous claims about Plame and compare them..ROFL

[roanoke]

Sara-

Thanks it's hard to remember that stuff and the press won't cover that

When AJ first linked to this story at the Washington Post he did the link wrong so I was trying to find the story on my own at their website and it was absolutely buried.

Thinking about that I just happened on this piece by Investor's Business Daily-

Our national media have become the national mouthpiece and protective watchdog for the Democratic Party and its agenda. Eighty-six percent of journalists vote Democratic in presidential elections. More than 300 key media posts are held by former aides, advisers, speechwriters, strategists or Democratic National Committee officials from Democratic administrations or political campaigns -- near monopolistic control.

[...]
Even a plurality of Democrats now say the press is liberal."

By far, the most insidious practice of the nearly 90% liberal-controlled national media is how they select which stories and facts to cover and promote, and the special slant they give to each story. More important are the stories they choose not to cover and which facts they omit because they don't support their story angle or political objectives.

Can You Trust the National Media

[Gary Maxwell]

Roanoke

Alcee Hastings is a member of Black Caucus. He represents the area south of Miami I think. He was a sitting federal judge and was impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate and removed from the bench. Democrats were so appalled by his behavior they removed him as a judge and then promptly elected him to the House. Sound like the kind of guy you want on the Intelligence Committee? How about chairman of the intelligence committee?

[Gary Maxwell]

Roanoke

Alcee Hastings is a member of the Black Caucus. He represents the area south of Miami I think. He was a sitting federal judge and was impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate and removed from the bench. One of only a handful of judges in the history of the country to have that occur. Democrats were so appalled by his behavior they removed him as a judge( they were the majority in the House and Senate and then promptly elected him to the House. Sound like the kind of guy you want on the Intelligence Committee? How about chairman of the intelligence committee?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

We haven't lawyered that comon sense approach out of government have we?

You know, that was so dry it took a second to get the joke.

[topsecretk9]

--My guess is that the Justice Department has a live investigation in the works and that the FBI has a bunch of wiretaps out there to pick up some of this stuff. Time will tell.--

That could be...they had in on Curt Weldon!

I recall that Jack Kelly had an article several months ago alleging he heard Mary McCarthy was singing like a bird and not much from Russ Tice after his appearance.

[SlimGuy]

Part of the reason this was easier so far than the ex pages, is so much of the info is from sites that are not likely to go poof on us.

I had some ex page stuff that I went there one night and it was scrubbed by the morning.

[PeterUK]

Sara,
Time to order the mink keyboard cover.

[topsecretk9]

--However to answer I don't think entrapment will fly.

To many sting operations for example, and I don't think this is a setup, just good forensic work--

What? The 'they gave me the classified document so it's their fault" defense?

[clarice]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=6399 (posted this on the other thread before it was online, but it belongs here, too.)

[Sara]

Peter, forget the mink, I need to save my house.

[roanoke]

Slim Guy-

Well you know -won't keep them from crying/trying it...

Gary Maxwell-
One of only a handful of judges in the history of the country to have that occur.

So he's especially "gifted"?

No, he doesn't sound like a guy to trust with the valuables. Democrats promote their best...

Charlie(Colorado)-

Well in an "abundance of caution" I had to ask. ;-)...

[SlimGuy]

If all congress critters were required to list on a staff page on their website a list of and job title of all their staffers and a list of past staffers and positions, it would make all of this a whole lot easier.

But like I posted in the prior thread, the only site I know that tracks all staffers is a subscription only site and costs $1900.00 per year.

[Sue]

What? The 'they gave me the classified document so it's their fault" defense?

It just might work, Top. When you have the media whoring for you.

[roanoke]

Well you can smell the excuses now-

It all depends on the meaning of the word "classified".

And,

It was unclassifed before I knew it was classified.

{Well catch you all later-I'm off to look at real estate in Australia...}

[Neo]

Jonathan Turley was a House page from 1977 to 1978.

[MayBee]

Good job, Ms Sara!

[Sue]

Off topic, but I always liked when I see her on O'Reilly. I didn't know she had a blog. I'm glad I peeked.

[Sue]

Kirsten Powers. Sorry, I screwed up the link.

[Jane]

roanoke,

I wanna hear about the RE in OZ.

[SlimGuy]

Peter, forget the mink, I need to save my house.

Posted by: Sara | October 20, 2006 at 05:51 PM

Sara

If worse comes to worse you can sell your house for 1/2 it's market value and move near your daughter and buy a mansion and still have money left over.

[Jane]

Sue,

Last time I saw Powers I thought "for a democrat operative she isn't that bad". But that last post on her weblog could put her job at risk.

[Specter]

Sara,

Fantastic! I sure hope it helps with the house and the back.

All,

It was so refreshing reading this thread. Did you notice? No anonymous. LOL

[SlimGuy]

Sue

Check out Hotair today, they have a foursome takeoff on the View and she is one of the members in the panel.

This is their second vblog together.

[Sara]

Specter -- Sshhhhh! Don't temp fate.

Clarice -- Turley's bio has this:

Current Semester Courses: Environmental Crimes Project, Environmental Law Clinic, Environmental Legislation Proj, Prisoners Project, Torts

Have any idea what the Prisoners Project might be?

[SlimGuy]

It was so refreshing reading this thread. Did you notice? No anonymous. LOL

Posted by: Specter | October 20, 2006 at 06:20 PM

If he shows up now, I'm coming after you with a nerf bat ::grin::

[Sue]

Jane,

I thought the same thing. She is too nice to be a democratic operative. And on that note, I also will reveal I like Bob Beckel. ::grin:: He will communicate with you, via email, and very politely and humorously, I might add, if you object to something he says as being just flat out incorrect.

[clarice]

Sara:"The Project for Older Prisoners
Faculty Supervisor: Jonathan Turley

The Project for Older Prisoners (POPS) encompasses a number of prison projects in which students are involved as volunteers or work for academic credit. Some students assist individual low-risk prisoners over the age of 55 to help them obtain paroles, pardons, or alternative forms of incarceration. In a typical case, a student will prepare an extensive background report on a prisoner to determine the likelihood of recidivism. If the risk is low, the student will then locate housing and support for the prisoner and help prepare the case for a parole hearing. Other students are involved in a Prison Environmentalism project that is working to introduce recycling and environmental industries in prisons. POPS also runs a "Books for Crooks" program to help build prison libraries, while another project involves students in a study of the federal prison system and the sentencing guidelines for the U.S. Sentencing Commission."

[SlimGuy]

Have any idea what the Prisoners Project might be?

Posted by: Sara | October 20, 2006 at 06:25 PM

It relates to issues concerning senior citizen prisoners are served in the system, alzheymer treatment, geratric care etc

[pagar]

"""""Have you people learned nothing from the infamous Schiavo memo affair"""""
What I have learned from watching the infamous Schiavo affair and other activities
by leftists. A decent person can never feel
safe around leftists. They claim that murder
of unborn children or murder of helpless adults is OK. They claim foreign terrorists must be given all the rights of an American
citizen, but American soldiers must be stripped and humiliated in American airports. That American soldiers who actually do have to fight the enemy will also have to fight for their lives with the
American leftists, who would not lift a finger to defend America, but will do every thing they can to destroy Americans who fight for us.
I've learned that Democrat leaders who
wrote the plans to use school buses to evacuate persons in case of need in New Orleans, not only did not have the decency to implement their own plan, but blamed national leaders for their own failure.
I've learned that leftist will give any
classified material to anyone, as long as they promise to use it against the United
States. The current document is by by no means the first leak America has seen,
I learned that leftists think it's OK
to sit on North Vietnam AAA guns and proclaim your love for America's enemies.
One can also fly to Paris and meet with the
enemy. So what if millions of people that believed Americans, when we told them we would protect them, died. It's all for the
good of the leftists. Just fly over to Iraq and defend a mass murderer, or promote the fraud of an election in Venezuala.
In short, I've learned never to trust a leftist or Democrat and I hope enough others have learned the same things, to give our
American leaders the support they deserve
on Nov 7th

[Jane]

Prisoners Project is probably some barry Scheck off-shoot, or something to do with rehabilitation. That's what most of them are, and most of them are good.

Specter I was just thinking the exact same thing, but I'd rather it be on your head!

[Sue]

For a party set to take over the house, at the very least, in November, the left side of the blogosphere is strangely not that optimistic. I have been dumpster diving and I must say, their tone is not one of sweeping in November.

[Neo]

It keeps getting better.

The Department of Justice is investigating whether Rep. Jane Harman and the pro-Israel group worked together to get her reappointed as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee

[SlimGuy]

I have been dumpster diving and I must say, their tone is not one of sweeping in November.

Posted by: Sue | October 20, 2006 at 06:32 PM

If you want to see how they are thinking without slumming, recommend you add this to your read list

http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com

Good satire and summary site
worth the look.

[Jane]

And Ted Olson is her lawyer. Wow

[Sara]

A Prison Project as described is something I would support. Sounds like a very sensible project. If we think housing prisoners is expensive today, wait until all these harsh life sentences reach their senior years.

[Gary Maxwell]

Sue

Thats funny but I have been feeling a growing sense of optimism last several days too. The Dems hoped to make Republican mistakes and scandal the whole topic of conversation. But being Democrats they overplayed their hand AGAIN and showed their tin ear on stuff like outing Gays ( they should have had several Sister Souljah moments with this Powers guy among other things ). In other words I think they have reminded voters why they threw the Dems out in the first place.

Look Menendez is knee deep in corruption, Dems are saying nothing about Intelligence leaks but screaming about restricted access by one staffer, and any time the spotlight goes on Alcee Hastings for goodness sake it cant be a positive for the Democrat party.

Is 2008 only two years away? Yikes, its really going to be ugly the next two years. Book it, the Dems will convince themselves once again that their birthright was stolen from them.

I almost wish for a unity candidate that can draw big independent support and just crush them so that they go and lick their wounds and start coming up with ideas and candidates I can support. But the unity candidate that the media would love, just turns my stomach.

Hanauer is the alumni class president for the 95 cla