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“STATUS OF AHMAD CHALABI INVESTIGATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S12466 on Nov. 8, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATUS OF AHMAD CHALABI INVESTIGATION
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I note that something curious is happening in Washington today. There is a man by the name of Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, who is visiting Washington. Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, FBI spokesman John Miller noted that Mr. Chalabi is ``under active investigation.'' For what? He is under investigation for the charge that he leaked intelligence, including the fact that the United States had broken a crucial Iranian code and that Mr. Chalabi turned that information over to the Baghdad station chief of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
Of course, if that happened, Mr. Chalabi endangered American troops and American security. As a result of this charge against Mr. Chalabi on May 20 of last year, his residence was searched by the Iraqis, with the cooperation of American forces in Iraq, to see if evidence could be found.
That is a serious charge that we would somehow jeopardize the security of America's troops and our national security and whether this man leaked sensitive information. The fact that he is under active investigation by the FBI is proof positive that we are taking this seriously.
So where can we find Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi this week? Well, we will find him in Washington. He has an appointment to sit down and break bread with Treasury Secretary Snow and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Then a little later this week he is going to give a speech to the American Enterprise Institute.
Does this sound like a man under active investigation or a man who is being actively lauded by this administration? I do not understand this.
While the Department of Justice is actively investigating this man for wrongdoing that could have endangered American troops and American lives, the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury are hosting him as though he were some dignitary. So do not be surprised if the Chalabi motorcade speeds up when they pass the Department of Justice. I guess they are concerned whether an FBI agent will come out and pursue this so-called active investigation.
It is very difficult to track how this man, who gave us such misleading information before the invasion of Iraq, now under active investigation for endangering American troops, is now the toast of the town at the Department of Treasury and the Department of State. I do not follow their logic, and I certainly do not follow the pursuit of justice if they do not have an active investigation concluded so that we know whether Mr. Chalabi has endangered American lives.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The Senator's time has expired. Who yields time?
The Senator from Colorado.
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