WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee wants a "full and serious congressional investigation into the potential misuse of intelligence."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the indictment of top White House aide I. Lewis Libby on charges including perjury and obstruction of justice raise questions about whether administration officials misused intelligence by disclosing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. He also said the charges "heighten concern" that the administration misused intelligence to make the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"To date, Congress has completely failed to answer these critical questions," said Rockefeller. "The fact is that at any time the Senate Intelligence Committee pursued a line of questioning that brought us close to the White House, our efforts were thwarted."
Rockefeller said if the Republican majority on the intelligence committee will not agree to investigate the question, he will pursue an "outside independent investigation."
The committee investigated prewar intelligence in 2004 and issued a report saying that key intelligence community judgments were "either overstated, or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence reporting."
"We went to war on false claims," said Rockefeller when the report was released.
