House intelligence committee chair Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) made a thinly veiled swipe at his GOP counterpart today over comments made by Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) criticizing the Obama Administration’s handling of information about the Fort Hood shootings.
As we told you earlier, Hoekstra said intel agencies including the CIA weren’t being sufficiently forthcoming about information the intelligence community might possess about Nidal Malik Hasan. And he suggested there are potential issues with the “performance” of intel agencies in the case.
This afternoon Reyes fired back:
“I am disappointed that some have rushed to the news media with unfounded information in order to gain headlines,” he said in a statement. “I hope that my colleagues will refrain from speculation, pray for those who were affected by this tragic incident, and let investigators do their work.”
Here’s Reyes’ full statement:
“I spoke with the Director of National Intelligence on Friday morning, and Director Blair committed to briefing members of the Committee on any possible information the Intelligence Community may have had with respect to the tragedy at Ft. Hood last Thursday. I trust when members of Congress return from the Veterans’ Day District Work Period that the DNI will follow through on his promise.“As the President stated last week, it would be inappropriate and premature to jump to conclusions on this matter. The Committee will allow investigators to do their jobs to ensure a thorough accounting of the facts. Once those facts have come to light and are presented to us, the Committee will consider and assess them.
“I am disappointed that some have rushed to the news media with unfounded information in order to gain headlines. I hope that my colleagues will refrain from speculation, pray for those who were affected by this tragic incident, and let investigators do their work.”