Dems mull intel panel rules ploy (The Hill)

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Dems mull intel panel rules ploy
By Alexander Bolton

Feb. 02, 2005

Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence are contemplating pushing for rules changes that would diminish the GOP’s power over the panel, in particular by curbing the authority of the majority staff director.

Giving the minority more power may affect Democrats’ ability to investigate such sensitive issues as whether the Bush administration pressured the intelligence community to conclude that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.



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Rockefeller seems more concerned about preserving the bipartisan nature of the committee than with stripping the Republican staff director of his near complete control. But if Republicans maintain their grip, it is unlikely that the committee will delve into Democratic areas of concern such as Abu Ghraib.


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“Bush has not been blamed much for the intelligence failures,” said retired Lt. Gen. William Odom, who served as the director of the National Security Agency from 1985 to 1988 and the Army’s chief of intelligence from 1981 to 1985. “The director of central intelligence worked for Mr. Bush. If they performed badly, why didn’t he get blamed?

“Whether by chance or by wit the administration has been able to … take the focus of responsibility away from the White House and put it on the intelligence community. The Democrats have fallen for that gambit and created illusion in the public’s mind.

“The Republicans have sucker-punched them with such effectiveness it’s amazing.”



http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/020205/Dems.html