Washington, Oct 30: Top lawmakers on the Senate intelligence committee demanded that CIA Director George Tenet appear in person before the panel, which is investigating shortcomings in us pre-war intelligence on Iraq. "We strongly believe that, at a time determined by the committee, you must appear in person," Chairman Pat Roberts, a Republican, and Vice Chairman John Rockefeller, a Democrat, wrote in their letter.
They made their request in a letter yesterday that was a response to correspondence from tenet sent October 24 reiterating his willingness to have top CIA officials appear before the committee.
The lawmakers wrote that they "welcome your offer" but require Tenet's own input before issuing a report of their investigation.
"Until the day that you appear before the committee, we ask. That you and your staff focus on ensuring that you have provided our staff with every document and interview that has been requested," Rockefeller and Roberts wrote.
The lawmakers also called on the CIA Director to "expedite our access to the current list of outstanding document and interview requests," adding that "some of these requests have gone unanswered since July."
They called on tenet to respond to their requests by 12:00 am (2230 IST) tomorrow.
Bureau Report