Influential Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said Tuesday that it would be appropriate for Congress to hold hearings into the destruction of top secret terrorism documents by former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, calling the Berger burglary "fertile ground for an investigation." Asked about plans by Democratic Senators to launch a probe into Iraq war intelligence, Sen. Nelson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity that Senate Republicans would be within their rights if they launched new probes into Democrat scandals.
HANNITY: What if Republicans want to launch multiple full-blown investigations, for example, into Sandy Berger? He was sent by Bill Clinton to research testimony before the 9/11 Commission. He took these documents and destroyed them.
Or where did the Rathergate forged documents come from? Was there an association with the Democratic Party? Or the Able Danger scandal? Or Bill Clinton's refusal to take Osama bin Laden when he was offered by the Sudan?
NELSON: I think they could do that.
HANNITY: But what if they do? Is this in the best interests of the country?
NELSON: Well, I don't know. It could be. I certainly think that [Senate Republicans] would do whatever they think is in the best interests of the country. And if they wanted to investigate those points, they have the power to do so. I suppose we've got to get beyond the point of just investigating investigations but I certainly wouldn't want to block their right to do that.
HANNITY: Would it be fair, for example, to have Bill Clinton explain why he bombed Saddam [Hussein] in 1998 and said the mission was to attack nuclear, chemical and biological weapons?
NELSON: I suppose the answer to that is - then people would want to investigate why the first President Bush didn't go on through into Baghdad. I mean there probably is some point where it just doesn't make any sense to do that. But if it were about Sandy Berger - that might have been fertile ground for an investigation. |