Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): Chairman of the Senate Cover-up Committee

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): Chairman of the Senate Cover-up Committee

As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Pat Roberts’s (R-KS) duty is “to provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States” and “to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.” But on the most important intelligence issues facing Americans – such as the manipulation of Iraq intelligence, warrantless domestic spying, and torture - Roberts has transformed his committee into a “Senate Coverup Committee” for the Bush administration.

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Warrantless Domestic Spying
Roberts has made clear both his support for Bush’s warrantless domestic spying program and his contempt for those who question the program’s legality. On March 7, his committee once again abdicated its oversight responsibilities and “voted against an investigation of the president’s warrantless domestic spying program.” Roberts instead made a deal with the White House to “allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days.” Ranking Member Jay Rockefeller called the move “proof that the White House controls the Intelligence Committee.”


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Iraq Intelligence
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released Phase I of its Iraq prewar intelligence report on July 9, 2004. The report found numerous failures in the intelligence-gathering and analysis process in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Roberts politicized the report by attacking Ambassador Joseph Wilson and by falsely asserting the report absolved the White House from charges of misusing prewar intelligence. After months of stonewalling, Nov. 14, 2005, was the negotiated deadline for the Senate Intelligence Committee to report on Phase II of its investigation into the administration’s use of prewar intelligence. More than three months later, the public still has not received a report. Roberts has impeded progress on the report and reneged on his pledge to complete Phase II. Below is a chronological breakdown of Roberts’s efforts to squash the report:


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Torture
Roberts Opposed McCain Torture Amendment. Roberts was one of nine Senators to vote against Sen. John McCain’s amendment banning the “cruel, inhuman” treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody. Roberts defended his vote, saying on Face the Nation, “You’re only successful with detention and interrogation when the detainee has a fear of the unknown, doesn’t know what’s going to happen.” He also called the amendment a “public vote of no confidence in our servicemen and women.”


http://thinkprogress.org/roberts-coverup