Republican and Democratic Panel Leaders Take Feud to the Senate Floor

NYTimes ^ | 11/06/03 | NyTimes

[Grit]

ASHINGTON, Nov. 5 ? Five months after the Senate Intelligence Committee began its review of prewar intelligence on Iraq, a contentious dispute broke out on the Senate floor on Wednesday as the panel's top Republican and Democrat traded accusations of bad faith.

The simmering debate about how far the inquiry should go burst into light with the circulation by Republicans late Tuesday of a draft memorandum written by a member of the committee's Democratic staff.

The memo said that Democrats seeking to call attention to the supposed misuse of intelligence by senior Bush administration officials should prepare to disavow the main thrust of the inquiry, which under the committee's Republican majority has primarily remained focused on the conduct of intelligence agencies.

Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, the panel's Republican chairman, accused Democrats of trying "to discredit the committee's work and undermine its conclusions, no matter what those conclusions may be." But Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the panel's Democratic vice-chairman, accused Senator Roberts of blocking his efforts to mount a complete review of how the public was given what now appears to have been an inaccurate picture of Iraq's alleged illicit weapons stockpiles and ties to terrorism.

"The majority has left the Senate minority with two choices." Senator Rockefeller said on the Senate floor. "Either abandon what we believe is a fundamental obligation of this body to the American people or reluctantly part ways and use our rights as a minority to get that job done on our own."

The dispute spilled over into the House as the Republican whip, Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, accused Democrats of seeking to lead the public "down a path of deception to score political points."

Investigators have been unable to turn up evidence of the Iraqi illicit weapons stockpiles and ties to terrorism that the administration cited as principal reasons for going to war. The exchanges in Congress underscored the considerable extent to which Democrats and Republicans now believe that the question of who is to blame for the failure to verify those original assertions will carry enormous political consequences.

The text of the Democratic memorandum was first reported on Tuesday by the radio host Sean Hannity. It called for plans to "identify the most exaggerated claims" by Bush administration officials about Iraq, and "to contrast them with the intelligence estimates that have since been declassified."

The memo also said that Democrats on the panel should be prepared to "pull the trigger" and call for an independent investigation beyond the jurisdiction of the committee in order to reveal "the misleading, if not flagrantly dishonest, methods and motives of senior administration officials who made the case for unilateral pre-emptive war."

In a statement issued Tuesday night and then in his comments on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Senator Roberts called on Senator Rockefeller to repudiate what he denounced as a "strategy of attack." He denounced the memorandum as "a purely partisan document that appears to be a road map for how the Democrats intend to politicize what should be a bipartisan, objective review of prewar intelligence."

Senator Rockefeller sought in reply to minimize the significance of the memo, calling it a draft written by staff that had not been approved by or shared with any member of the committee. But he was plainly angered by the memo's disclosure, saying that it had raised "serious questions" about whether Republicans were "obtaining unauthorized access to private, internal materials."

Senator Roberts issued a strong defense of Republican strategy. "There should be no legitimate question as to our approach or our dedication to following the information no matter where it leads," he said.

[Grit]

MemoGate:

Update:

Hannity Radio:	Check.
FoxNews :	Check.
FreeRepublic	Check.
Wash Times:	Check.
NY Post:	Check.
Drudge:	Pulled?
Boston Globe:	Dems - "Politicizing", Pubs - "Office Espionage"
Wash Post:	"Political Squabble" Page A27!
NY Times:	"Republican and Democrat traded accusations"
ABC:	Nothing
CBS:	Nothing
NBC:	Nothing
CNN:	Dems,GOP feud. Dems suggest investigation of Pubs!

[prognostigaator]

“It is clear that the current approval ratings of the administration are tied directly to strong American feelings toward traditional values,” the talking points say. “To counter this, doubt must be raised as to America’s true position within the world community and the true intent of the Bush administration in waging war.”

[alnick]

I know it's the NYT, but I'm aghast at how biased this article is. This story doesn't even bear a slight resemblance to what happened.

The NYT should have printed the entire text of the memo. Thank God the NYT is delcining in popularity.

[pollywog]

very REVEALING chart , Grit!! Thanks.

[Cicero]

Republicans and Democrats Trade Accusations.

That's one way of putting it. Profoundly dishonest, but one of the typical liberal ploys. 15 or 20 years ago, the headline would have read, "Soviet Union and United States Trade Accusatins." Yesterday it might have read, "Israelis and Palestinians Trade Accusations."

These folks refuse to admit that there might be such a thing as right and wrong, good and evil, or patriotism and treason.

[BibChr]

BibChr predicts:

The GOP will wring their hands and express grave concerns.

The RATs will bluster, explode, thunder, be deeply offended, express outrage, and generally take the offensive.

The GOP will apologize and promise never to let it happen again.

"There!" Frist will pant at the end. "I'm glad we settled THAT!"

Dan

[caisson71]

I certainly hope the Republicans remove their jackets and roll up their sleeves on this one.

[KellyAdmirer]

"The majority has left the Senate minority with two choices." Senator Rockefeller said on the Senate floor. "Either abandon what we believe is a fundamental obligation of this body to the American people or reluctantly part ways and use our rights as a minority to get that job done on our own."

This blowhard wouldn't know a fundamental obligation if it bit him on the keester. I wouldn't trust my taxes to a guy who can't keep his memos confidential, much less national security.

[Sabertooth]

Very helpful, thanks.

If you're making a ping list for these updates, can you add me?

[teletech]

The fact that OUTRAGE over this "memo" isn't there leads me to ask if we have a standard by which we judge treason. Do we look the other way no matter what? It should be crystal clear to Americans which political party is seeking to undermine the security of these United States.

[wattsmag2]

One wonders why Senator Crockefella is more concerned with the memo being leaked than he is of intelligence being leaked. Well, I don't really wonder.

[concerned about politics]

It should be crystal clear to Americans which political party is seeking to undermine the security of these United States.

In order to get their socialist revolution, they have to destroy the society we have first before they can come in as the saviors.

[bayourod]

The big 3 networks' silence is deafning.

[VRWCmember]

But he was plainly angered by the memo's disclosure, saying that it had raised "serious questions" about whether Republicans were "obtaining unauthorized access to private, internal materials."

You wouldn't be talking about democrat martin frost's staffers breaking into the republican senate offices in Austin and stealing drafts of redistricting map proposals would you?

[bert]

They call it a memo, but it is really a plan for war on the Republic.

[onyx]

Good work, Grit. Much appreciated.

What do you think? Link Grit's tread to y-all's?

[livius]

Nice chart, Grit!

[Huck]

Out of curiosity, how are you tracking ABCCBSNBC? I browsed some of the cable channels yesterday and was actually surprised that this story is being ignored.

[Huck]

The Times is worthless.