Wednesday
Apr212010
Pentagon Mulling Response To Fort Hood Subpoena
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 2:54PM
Officials within the Department of Defense have not decided to what extent the Pentagon will comply with a Congressional subpoena requesting documents related to the November shooting on the Ft. Hood military installation.
“We should be able to review [the subpoena] and make determinations about how we wish to proceed, but we’re not at the point of making those determinations yet,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday.
According to Morrell, the Defense Department is concerned that the release of some documents could jeopardize the prosecution of the accused shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army Major and psychologist who reportedly has ties with a controversial former Imam in Yemen. Morrell added that the Pentagon is still in the midst of an internal accountability review that could be affected by complying with the subpoena.
Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee respectively, issued the subpoena earlier this week.
“The purpose of the Committee’s investigation of the Fort Hood attack is to answer questions that are critical to our government’s ability to counter homegrown terrorism,” the two Senators wrote in a letter that accompanied the subpoena. “Our staff has engaged in lengthy but ultimately unproductive discussions with your departments … our efforts have been met with delay.”
Added Lieberman and Collins, “It is impossible for us to avoid reaching the conclusion that the departments simply do not want to cooperate with our investigation.”
The Department of Justice was also named in the subpoena.
“We should be able to review [the subpoena] and make determinations about how we wish to proceed, but we’re not at the point of making those determinations yet,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday.
According to Morrell, the Defense Department is concerned that the release of some documents could jeopardize the prosecution of the accused shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army Major and psychologist who reportedly has ties with a controversial former Imam in Yemen. Morrell added that the Pentagon is still in the midst of an internal accountability review that could be affected by complying with the subpoena.
Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee respectively, issued the subpoena earlier this week.
“The purpose of the Committee’s investigation of the Fort Hood attack is to answer questions that are critical to our government’s ability to counter homegrown terrorism,” the two Senators wrote in a letter that accompanied the subpoena. “Our staff has engaged in lengthy but ultimately unproductive discussions with your departments … our efforts have been met with delay.”
Added Lieberman and Collins, “It is impossible for us to avoid reaching the conclusion that the departments simply do not want to cooperate with our investigation.”
The Department of Justice was also named in the subpoena.
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