US Won't Share Fort Hood Evidence with Senate

Two U.S. senators vowed on Thursday to subpoena the Obama administration next week unless it produces information sought in a congressional investigation of last year’s rampage at the Texas military base in which 13 soldiers were killed.

They said the Justice and Defense departments had until Monday to provide the information or face legal action.

Gates, speaking to reporters after attending a Caribbean security conference in Barbados, said the U.S. government had no interest in hiding information from Congress but the legal case against Major Nidal Malik Hasan had to take priority.

“Anything that does not have any impact on that prosecution, we are more than willing to share,” Gates said.

“But what’s most important is this prosecution. And we will cooperate with the committee in every way — with that single caveat, that whatever we provide doesn’t compromise the prosecution.”

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Susan Collins, the panel’s top Republican, have been trying for months to obtain specific information about the rampage, which also left many wounded.

Responding to Gates’ statements, Lieberman and Collins said, “There are many examples for allowing Congress to interview FBI agents, even while a criminal prosecution was in progress for which they could be witnesses, so we view that argument as baseless.”

Earlier, Lieberman and Collins said their committee wanted access to documents and witnesses regarding what the FBI and Defense Department knew about Hasan before the shootings. They have rejected administration claims that the information could compromise the pending prosecution of Hasan.

Gates suggested that the Obama administration was unwilling to reconsider its position ahead of the threatened deadline.

The subpoena could be an unwanted distraction for a White House already under pressure to cut unemployment, nominate a new Supreme Court justice, pass climate change legislation and regulate the financial industry.
Source: Atlas Shrugs