Republicans broadened their drive to discredit White House critic Richard Clarke on Friday by questioning whether the former counterterrorism official had lied in testifying two years ago about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The latest move in the fracas over President George W. Bush's anti-terror and Iraq war policies came as it was disclosed that congressional Republicans were trying to declassify closed-door testimony Clarke gave in July 2002 before Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees. Such declassification would be a rare step for Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, charged that Clarke's testimony in 2002 conflicted with his appearance this week before a bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.
Clarke testified on Wednesday that Bush had failed to heed threats that such attacks might be in the offing and, once they occurred, focused on Iraq rather al Qaeda.
"Mr. Clarke has told two entirely different stories under oath," Frist declared on the Senate floor, charging Clarke had said in 2002 that the administration had actively sought to address the threat posed by al Qaeda before the attacks.
"It is one thing for Mr. Clarke to dissemble in front of the media ... but if he lied under oath to the United States Congress it is a far, far more serious matter," Frist said.
"The [House] intelligence committee is seeking to have Mr. Clarke's testimony declassified to actually permit an examination of [his] two differing accounts. Loyalty to any administration will be no defense if it is found he lied."
The decision to declassify would be made by the White House in consultation with federal agencies with a stake in the intelligence information involved.
Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2002, backed the call to declassify, Clarke's testimony but added: "To the best of my recollection, there is nothing inconsistent or contradictory in that testimony and what Mr. Clarke has said this week."
Graham also said in a statement that Clarke's testimony "should be released in its entirety -- not, as the Bush administration has done in the past, selectively edited so that only favorable portions are made public."
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush's prospective Democratic opponent in the November presidential election, said Clarke has raised "some very, very serious questions" with the criticisms he has loosed over the past week in a newly published book, a TV interview and his commission testimony.
"My challenge to the Bush administration would be, if he's not believable and they have reason to show it, then prosecute him for perjury," Kerry told CBS MarketWatch on Friday.
At the White House, spokesman Trent Duffy said the administration was "working to accommodate the request" by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, to declassify Clarke's testimony.
In testifying Wednesday, Clarke said that before the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration regarded terrorism as "not an urgent issue." The White House has rejected the characterization, arguing that Bush considered terrorism a priority from day one.
In recent days, Democrats and Republicans have taken the floor of their chamber to defend or attack Bush and Clarke, who had served under the past four presidents.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of