Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has temporarily disbanded the Senate Intelligence Committee until committee Democrats reveal the identity of the author of a memo outlining a plan to politicize intelligence data in a bid undermine President Bush's re-election.
"The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has been harmed by a blatant partisan attack," the Tennessee Republican said in a floor speech yesterday, concluding that the memo had rendered the committee "incapable of meeting its responsibilities to the United States Senate and to the American people."
"Those responsible for this memo appear to be more focused on winning the White House than they are on winning the war against terror," Frist complained before adding, "There will be no more pulling along and no more useful collaboration on partisan schemes."
Committee Chairman Pat Roberts echoed Frist's decision to shut his committee down, saying, "Unless and until this reprehensible attack plan and strategy to derail the committee's important work is properly addressed, I am afraid that it will be impossible to return to business as usual in the committee."
A committee meeting scheduled for yesterday was canceled, and none has been scheduled for next week, a senior committee staff member told the Washington Post.
Frist also demanded that Democrats implicated in the Memogate scandal deliver "a personal apology" to Sen. Roberts.
Though retiring Georgia Democratic Sen. Zell Miller has called the memo, first leaked to radio host Sean Hannity on Tuesday, "perhaps treasonous," other Democrats circled the wagons on Friday.
Nevada Sen. Harry Reid complained on the Senate floor that the memo had been "pilfered" by Republicans, then leaked to the media, saying that act was just as offensive as anything revealed by the controversial document.
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