Able Danger Hearings Continue

Eliot Spitzer, the Attorney General of New York, needs to explain himself. He's purposefully interjecting himself into the hearings by trying to deflect attention from one of his deputies, Deitrich Snell, who was one of the 9/11 Commission investigators.

The House Armed Services Committee had requested testimony of Deputy Attorney General Dietrich Snell — a former top investigator with the 9/11 commission — at a hearing today on "Able Danger," the secret Pentagon cyber intelligence program that allegedly turned up the name of Mohammed Atta, the mastermind of the atrocity.

Republicans led by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) had planned to angrily confront Snell, who interviewed members of the Able Danger team during the commission investigation. The commission's report later dismissed the significance of Able Danger and its findings.

Snell, the No. 3 man in the Attorney General's Office in charge of public advocacy, refused to appear before the panel, citing a heavy workload in New York and the fact that he has already answered questions on Able Danger to committee staff and in media interviews.

Darren Dopp, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, confirmed that Spitzer got personally involved in the discussions — and, after conversations with committee counsel William Ostendorff, backed Snell's decision to stay away.

"Eliot called the staff director to explain that Dieter was needed in New York ," Dopp said. He added Spitzer was told there are no plans to force Snell to testify.

I'm sorry but there's no amount of workload that can't be adjusted to answer these questions of national security and urgency of trying to determine how and why the 9/11 Commission failed to address Able Danger, data mining programs, and related issues in its final report. This is called building political cover for decisions made. There are no pressing issues at the AG's office that are more important than getting to the bottom of the intel failures pre-9/11. After all, the Twin Towers were in NYC - it's New York residents who were affected most by the terrorist attacks, and the AG's office has the nerve to claim that Snell has too much work to be able to attend?

Able Danger Blogging
Able Danger Blog
AJ Strata
Captain's Quarters
Flopping Aces
Mac's Mind
Tom Maguire
QT Monster
Mark Tapscott
-------------------------------------

Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush