WP: Tenet Says He Didn't Know About Claim
WP: Tenet Says He Didn't Know About Claim
By Walter Pincus
Thursday, July 17, 2003; Page A01
CIA Director George J. Tenet told the Senate intelligence committee
yesterday that his staff did not bring to his attention a questionable
statement about Iraq seeking uranium in Africa before President Bush
delivered his State of the Union address.
But Tenet told the senators during a nearly five-hour session behind
closed doors that he takes responsibility for the now-famous 16-word
sentence because an agency official had approved it after negotiations
with the White House, according to congressional and administration
sources who attended the session.
"Members were stunned," one Democratic senator in the meeting said,
"because he said he basically wasn't aware of the sentence until
recently."
(snip)
Yesterday, the Democratic senator said Tenet was repeatedly asked why
the CIA permitted the allegation in the address, especially since Tenet
had interceded with the White House to remove a more detailed reference
to the claim from a Bush speech on Oct. 7.
"There was mixed reactions to his answers as to why they compromised
after he told us how dubious and incredible the intelligence was," said
the senator, who insisted on anonymity.
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