CIA Denies Report of Blocking Hasan Intel

Updated at 12:12 p.m. Eastern time

Responding to a report that the Army psychiatrist suspected in last week's Fort Hood shootings had tried to contact people within al Qaeda - and that government intelligence agencies knew about it and are refusing to brief Congress on it - a U.S. intelligence official told CBS News that the CIA isn't withholding information from Congress.

"There's no sign at this point that the CIA had collected information relevant to this case and then simply sat on it," the official told CBS News Justice and Homeland Security correspondent Bob Orr.

ABC News published the report Monday morning with details that the CIA was refusing to brief the congressional committees charged with overseeing the intelligence agencies, a senior lawmaker told ABC.

Orr reports that the CIA denies any allegation that the agency is keeping Congress in the dark.

"This is a law enforcement investigation, in which other agencies - not the CIA - have the lead," CIA spokesman George Little told Orr. "Any suggestion that the CIA refused to brief Congress is flat wrong."

The report comes a day after lawmakers discussed the possibility of launching a congressional investigation into the worst mass shooting at a military facility in the United States last week that left 13 dead and 29 wounded.

Special Section: Tragedy at Fort Hood

In its report, ABC said it was unclear whether the American intelligence community alerted the Army about suspected shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who attended the same mosque as two of the 9/11 hijackers. Hasan is in critical condition at an Army hospital and breathing on his own.

More Coverage of the Tragedy at Fort Hood:

Hasan Liked Strippers, Club Manager Says
Did Army Miss Signs of Hasan's Extremism?
Fort Hood Reflects, but Work Carries On
Hasan Computer Shows No Terror Ties
List of Fort Hood Dead, Wounded

Previous reports allegedly posted by Hasan six months ago.

Congress has asked CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair "to preserve" all documents and intelligence files related to Hasan, the senior lawmaker told ABC.

The Army and the FBI are conducting their own investigations into the Fort Hood shootings. Congressional Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that they before considering launching their own investigation.