Sgt Sostand
07-16-03, 03:10 PM
Bureau to conduct its own investigation into the documents that linked Iraq with Niger and uranium
July 16 — The FBI, plunging full steam into the Iraq intelligence controversy, is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the forged documents that purported to show that Saddam Hussein’s regime was seeking to buy significant quantities of uranium, NEWSWEEK has learned.
THE PREVIOUSLY undisclosed probe is being conducted by the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Division and, although formally labeled a “preliminary inquiry,” is described by knowledgeable sources as active and ongoing.
Only three months ago, FBI director Robert Mueller had brushed aside a request from Congress to probe the Niger documents after bureau officials concluded that the forgeries did not appear to be part of a broader disinformation campaign to influence U.S. policy by a foreign intelligence service.
But more recently, the Counter-Intelligence Division, overseen by its aggressive assistant director, David Szady, has revisited the matter—in part after further prodding by the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, three sources tell NEWSWEEK.
July 16 — The FBI, plunging full steam into the Iraq intelligence controversy, is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the forged documents that purported to show that Saddam Hussein’s regime was seeking to buy significant quantities of uranium, NEWSWEEK has learned.
THE PREVIOUSLY undisclosed probe is being conducted by the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Division and, although formally labeled a “preliminary inquiry,” is described by knowledgeable sources as active and ongoing.
Only three months ago, FBI director Robert Mueller had brushed aside a request from Congress to probe the Niger documents after bureau officials concluded that the forgeries did not appear to be part of a broader disinformation campaign to influence U.S. policy by a foreign intelligence service.
But more recently, the Counter-Intelligence Division, overseen by its aggressive assistant director, David Szady, has revisited the matter—in part after further prodding by the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, three sources tell NEWSWEEK.