Post by PaulaB on Jan 23, 2004 10:46:07 GMT -5
Probe of Intercepted Messages Focuses on Shelby
Justice Department Investigating Leak of Classified NSA Material Regarding Sept. 11 Attacks
By Dana Priest and Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 22, 2004; Page A02
The Justice Department's 18-month investigation into the leak of classified intercepted messages is focusing on Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), who was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at the time of the disclosure, according to a law enforcement official and congressional sources.
A grand jury has been hearing information and has taken the testimony of at least two witnesses, including Shelby's former press secretary, sources said. The investigation centers on the disclosure in 2002 that the National Security Agency had intercepted two messages on the eve of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks signaling that something was to happen the next day. The cryptic messages were not translated until Sept. 12.
Shelby has since left the committee and is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. He said in a statement yesterday: "My position on this issue is clear and well-known: At no time during my career as a United States Senator and, more particularly, at no time during my service as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have I ever knowingly compromised classified information.
"To my knowledge, the same can be said about my staff. We have provided the investigation with our full cooperation in the past, and we will continue to do so." The statement said Shelby has had no contact with investigators for more than a year.
Shelby's former press secretary, Andrea Andrews, has moved to Texas. Neither she nor her attorney could be reached to comment yesterday.
It was unclear yesterday how close the FBI is to concluding its investigation, or for how long it has focused on Shelby.
On June 19, 2002, CNN, citing "two congressional sources," quoted phrases contained in two classified NSA intercepts from Sept. 10, 2001, that hinted of an impending terrorist operation. The intercepts included the phrases "The match begins tomorrow" and "tomorrow is zero day." This information was revealed by NSA's director, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, during a closed session of a joint House-Senate panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.
At the time, Vice President Cheney chastised committee members publicly about the disclosure of sensitive information. Critics said the administration was trying to stop public disclosure of embarrassing information about the lapses in intelligence and security surrounding the attacks.
Cheney's criticism prompted the House and Senate intelligence committees to encourage an FBI investigation of themselves. Within two months, FBI agents had the phone records, appointment calendars and schedules of 17 senators and had questioned more than 100 people, including all 37 members of the committee and about 60 staff members.
The agents typically asked lawmakers and staff members if they were willing to take polygraph tests.
Meanwhile yesterday, Democratic members of key House committees said they were frustrated by a lack of information about another leak investigation: the FBI's probe of who disclosed the identity of a CIA case officer, Valerie Plame, who was undercover.
In December, seven members of the House asked the Justice Department for a progress report on the investigation, launched to find out who told columnist Robert D. Novak that Plame is a CIA officer. Plame is married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a prominent critic of the administration's Iraq policies, who concluded during a 2002 CIA-sponsored mission to Africa that there was little evidence Saddam Hussein sought uranium there. Wilson says he believes his wife's identity was disclosed in retaliation for his public discussions of those findings.
Bush mentioned the alleged Africa-Iraq uranium connection in last year's State of the Union address as he built a case for going to war against Iraq. The CIA had warned the White House against using that assertion, and documents showing a Niger-Iraq link turned out to be forged.
Members of the House asked the Justice Department how many interviews had been conducted and how many remain to be scheduled. The lawmakers, some of whom said they fear the department is not pushing hard enough to resolve the matter, also wanted to know whether the Bush administration had turned over the documents requested.
The department, in a letter dated Jan. 13, declined to answer the questions, citing long-standing policy against revealing information during an investigation.
Yesterday, Rep. Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), and the ranking members of the House International Relations, Judiciary and Government Reform committees, introduced a Resolution of Inquiry, an infrequently used device to compel the executive branch to turn over information to Congress.
The resolution will be introduced in four committees that share jurisdiction on the matter. If it is not voted down or acted upon by each committee within 14 days, Holt and his co-signers can take the matter to the floor. Holt said chances of the resolution passing are "slim" but "at least it raises the issue."
"I certainly don't want to compromise an ongoing investigation," he said. "I think this is a way of strengthening the backbone of investigators."
Co-signers include Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) of the International Relations Committee and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) of the Government Reform Committee.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36876-2004Jan21.html