Weldon pushes 'Able Danger' criminal probe

http://www.timesherald.com/site/news...id=33380&rfi=6

(Gold9472: This guy is in my neighborhood... I'm going to try and contact him.)

By: KEITH PHUCAS, Times Herald Staff
11/11/2005

NORRISTOWN - Comparing official silence about "Able Danger" to the Watergate cover-up, Rep. Curt Weldon called for a criminal investigation into the former Army intelligence operation that claims it identified hijacker Mohamed Atta more than a year before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Appearing at a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday, the Seventh District congressman continued his scathing criticism of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the former 9/11 Commission for covering up details about the defunct intelligence effort.

Data gleaned from the "Able Danger" operation could have prevented the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, Weldon said previously.

The Pentagon Inspector General's Office is investigating allegations that the DIA orchestrated a smear campaign against Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer for going public with details of "Able Danger," Weldon said Wednesday.

On Thursday, a spokesman from the congressman's office said Shaffer and Weldon have met with Defense Department investigators.

Shaffer's security clearance was revoked just before he was set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about "Able Danger" in September.
From 1999 to 2001, the "Able Danger" group used data mining to collect huge amounts of information about individuals connected to al-Qaida.

But after Shaffer tried to team Special Operations Command with the FBI to closer scrutinize suspected terrorists, the Pentagon blocked the effort, Weldon and Shaffer told The Times Herald in June.

Shaffer was a DIA liaison working with "Able Danger" team members Capt. Scott Phillpott and James D. Smith, a defense contractor, and others. The three men were barred by the Defense Department from testifying at the September hearing.

Another defense contractor employee, Bob Johnson, who worked for Raytheon, also claims to have independently identified Atta prior to the terrorist attacks while working on a data-mining project for his former employer, the congressman said.

This is the sixth person to corroborate Shaffer's claim that Atta was identified prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The congressman charged that a former 9/11 Commission staff member, Dieter Snell, deliberately passed up information on "Able Danger." The operation was not included in the commission's final report published in July 2004.

Snell purposely held back information given to him by Phillpott, the former "Able Danger" team leader, 10 days before the 9/11 Commission report was published to deflect criticism from his colleague, 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick, Weldon said.

He said the truth would eventually come out.

"I know there's going to be egg on the face of the 9/11 Commission," Weldon said.

Gorelick, who worked in the U.S. Justice Department during the Clinton Administration, is blamed for creating a legal "wall" that previously prevented law enforcement and intelligence agencies from sharing information on suspected terrorists.

"There's a cover up here," Weldon said. "It's clear and unequivocal."
In August, Gorelick called Weldon's office leaving the message.
"I've done nothing wrong," according to Weldon.

The DIA has attempted to discredit Shaffer by revealing that he violated Pentagon policy by making improper phone calls and submitting questionable travel expenses, Weldon said. These alleged violations have been disputed.

"I'm convinced that the DIA does not want this story told intact," he said.
As well, the agency said the 42-year-old reservist had stolen government pens. Though true, it turned out this occurred about 27 years ago when Shaffer's father worked in an overseas embassy. At the time, Shaffer was 15 years old.

Recently, the DIA sent Shaffer a box of his effects that included classified information, which is a violation of U.S. law, Weldon said. By this time, Shaffer's security clearance had been revoked. The box also included someone else's mail and a box of pens.

Last week at a meeting of DIA attaches from around the world held in Tampa, Fla., Weldon said, an official told the group it was the defense agency's top priority to kill the "Able Danger" inquiry.

"The reason they're after (Shaffer) so aggressively is that he will embarrass people from the (Clinton) administration and perhaps this (Bush) administration," he said.

Keith Phucas can be reached at kphucas@timesherald.com or 610-272-2500, ext. 211.