GOP's DeLay rebukes Kean for 9/11 politics

WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sent a sharply worded letter to Sept. 11 commission head Tom Kean Friday, criticizing what he called rising partisanship.

A source close to DeLay says the Texas Republican is "very concerned" about commission members using the investigation as a platform for taking partisan potshots instead of looking for ways to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks.

The recent televised hearings "blur the distinction between the commission's work and a prime-time cable talk show," DeLay said, adding, "Partisan mudslinging, circus-atmosphere pyrotechnics, and gotcha-style questioning do not get us closer to the truth."

"Politicization of the commission not only undermines its credibility; it undermines the war effort and endangers our troops," DeLay told Kean, a former GOP governor of New Jersey.

DeLay also mentioned growing concerns over a perceived conflict of interest by commission-member Jamie Gorelick who, it was recently learned, authored a memo setting out policy on issues the commission is now looking into while a member of the Clinton Justice Department senior staff.

Kean, as well as a number of prominent Democrats, have dismissed the concerns as unfounded.