Rocky Fesses Up
When Fox News reported two weeks ago on a leaked memo outlining the Democrats' strategy to use the Senate Intelligence Committee for political gain, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the committee's ranking Democrat, seemed to disclaim responsibility: "The draft memo was not approved nor was it shared with any member of the Senate Intelligence Committee or anyone else. It was likely taken from a waste basket or through unauthorized computer access."
Now, however, he's changing his tune. In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, he seems to acknowledge that staffers drafted the memo at his direction:
"Faced with Republicans' continuing refusal to conduct a complete investigation into these matters, my staff recently drafted an options memo on the use or potential misuse of intelligence. The memo, intended only for me, was pilfered from the usually secure Senate intelligence committee and distributed to the media. It has become a convenient excuse for Republicans to shut down the committee and curtail the investigation."
It's more than a "convenient excuse," of course. The committee's raison d'être is honest oversight; if the Dems are determined to transform it into a partisan club, it may as well shut down.