Washington, D.C.
The Senate Intelligence Committee this week canceled all meetings scheduled for the rest of the year after a partisan feud erupted over an investigation of prewar intelligence reports on Iraq. The controversy started when a memo from a Democratic staff member was given to Republican radio host Sean Hannity. In the memo, the staffer outlined a strategy for using the committee’s hearings to damage President Bush politically, by publicly exposing contradictions between intelligence reports on Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs and what Bush said the intelligence showed. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) accused Democrats of politicizing the committee’s work, and he demanded an apology. Democrats said the memo only reflected their frustration over the refusal of their Republican colleagues to look into whether the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence reports to strengthen the case for war.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Pope seeks inquiry on if Gaza assault is 'genocide'Speed Read In a book for the Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis considers whether Israel's war in Gaza meets the legal definition of 'genocide'
-
Can Europe pick up the slack in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Trump's election raises questions about what's next in the war
-
Biden allows Ukraine to hit deep in RussiaSpeed Read The U.S. gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles supplied by Washington, a decision influenced by Russia's escalation of the war with North Korean troops
