Transparency Needed in Ft. Hood Inquiry
According to Rep. Pete Hoekstra, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, the government has been "too slow" in providing information to members of Congress in the investigation into Maj. Nadil Malik Hasan and the Ft. Hood massacre.
On CBS' "Face The Nation," host Bob Schieffer asked Hoekstra if he was satisfied with the administration's transparency with members of Congress.
"There hasn't been enough transparency for members of Congress, for the press, or for the American people. You know, I think that we need to move very, very aggressively and do a full-scale investigation as to who knew what and where," Hoekstra responded.
Hoekstra also noted that the government has gathered a lot of information on Maj. Hasan, but a lack of cohesive communication prevented the Ft. Hood massacre from being stopped before it happened.
"I think the administration knew by the Friday after the Fort Hood shootings that they had a lot of questions that needed to be answered, that there had been all of these red flags, but that they had never come together in one place."
Hoekstra called for an aggressive investigation into what what happened at Ft. Hood, to get a better insight into what he called "a real and continuing threat from radical jihadists.
"I think most Americans aren't aware of how severe this threat really is," he said.
The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), agreed with Hoekstra about a separate Congressional investigation, adding, "I think we have to do it carefully, in a way that we don't interfere with the prosecution that is going to be of him, the court martial prosecution. We don't want to step on things that will make it more difficult to prosecute him because, of course, he should be prosecuted for these murders."
