WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a senior Democratic member of the panel sparred Sunday on national television.
The volatile topic was the leak of an internal memo that has interrupted the committee's review of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, the International Herald Tribune reported.
The memo said because the committee's inquiry was not focused on how the White House used intelligence, Democrats should be ready to disavow the panel's findings and "pull the trigger" to demand an independent investigation, the newspaper said.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., angrily told "Fox News Sunday" he was "stunned" and "shocked" by the memo.
He said Democrats have jeopardized the committee's 30-year history of non-partisanship and "poisoned the well."
But, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Republicans were using their outrage over the memo to avoid addressing the Bush Administration's use of intelligence.
