Spy Agencies Scour Their Files for Info on Fort Hood Shooter

U.S. intelligence agencies are combing through their files to see what reports they may have that might have provided advance warning about the apparently growing anger and radical Islamist sympathies of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 in a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas last week. The New York Times is reporting that intelligence agencies did intercept e-mails between Hasan and Anwar Awlaki, a former Washington, D.C., area imam now residing in Yemen, but apparently didn't regard them as hugely significant at the time. Awlaki today posted an item on his Web site praising Hasan for his bloody attack last week.

Intelligence officials said the agencies had begun scouring their files for material on Hasan even before Rep. Pete Hoekstra, top Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter today to National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair and the heads of the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency requesting that they "preserve all documents and materials relevant to the Fort Hood attack and any related investigations or intelligence collection activities." In his letter, Hoekstra complained that the Obama administration had restricted limited Congressional intelligence briefings regarding Hasan to the so-called "Gang of Eight"—senior House and Senate leaders, including Intelligence Committee leaders from both parties (including Hoekstra himself). Hoekstra's press statement on the subject appeared to imply that he had reason to believe the agencies did have some intelligence on Hasan which could have given military officials an early warning that he was about to crack. "I have requested this information be preserved because I believe members of the full committee on a bipartisan basis will want to scrutinize the intelligence relevant to this attack, what the agencies in possession of that intelligence did with it, who was and wasn’t informed and why, and what steps America’s intelligence agencies are taking in light of what they know," Hoekstra said. He did not respond to a message from NEWSWEEK requesting further elaboration on this point.

Hoekstra's office released his letter and statement not long after The Blotter, a blog produced by the ABC News investigative team, posted an item reporting that U.S. agencies months ago had learned that Hasan had been "attempting to make contact with people associated with Al Qaeda." ABC said its sources did not know whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected Al Qaeda figures.

Intelligence officials contacted by NEWSWEEK initially expressed some puzzlement about the ABC report, saying they could not confirm that one (or more) intelligence agency had picked up evidence some time ago that Hasan was trying to contact Al Qaeda. One operative, who asked for anonymity when discussing a continuing investigation, said it was premature to reach such a conclusion. The official added that any review would also consider whether, if it turns out that agencies did collect intelligence months ago about possible efforts by Hasan to contact Al Qaeda, the agencies at the time had enough information to figure out the meaning and implications of the raw intelligence reporting. The Times report about e-mails intercepted between Hasan and Awlaki appears to affirm the intelligence operative's warning that raw intelligence that looks damaging in hindsight may not have appeared so significant at the time it was first collected.

The CIA bridled at a suggestion by Hoekstra to ABC that it had refused to brief Capitol Hill on what it knew about Hasan. “This is a law enforcement investigation, in which other agencies—not the CIA—have the lead.  Any suggestion that the CIA refused to brief Congress is simply incorrect,“ said agency spokesman Paul Gimigliano. Another official indicated that intelligence community officials were planning to brief congressional intelligence committee leaders again on Monday night on what the agencies' Hasan inquiries had turned up so far. Hoekstra privately indicated to officials he might miss the briefing due to another commitment.

The Times said that the messages between Hasan and Awlaki were exchanged last year and this year and had been the subject of investigations by the FBI and Army. Current and former counterterrorism officials said that the overwhelming likelihood is that the messages originally were intercepted by the ultrasecretive National Security Agency, whose worldwide electronic eavesdropping network, based at Fort Meade near Baltimore, Md., has been heavily focused on terrorism-related intelligence since 9/11. A former senior counter-terrorism official said that, under instructions given to NSA by President George W. Bush, which were subsequently ratified by Congress, it would be within NSA's legal mandate to monitor, without special warrants, the content, and traffic to and from, overseas Web sites or e-mail addresses known to have a connection with Al Qaeda or other terror groups. If a person in the U.S. were to try to contact a foreign Web site already under NSA scrutiny, then the agency would be likely to spot and examine the communication before forwarding it on to other agencies for further investigation.

Agency reviews of their material are expected to continue for some time. Wendy Morigi, a spokeswoman for National Intelligence Director Blair, said "The intelligence community is carefully following every lead and examining all information regarding Army Major Nadal Hasan. Director Blair has been in communication with the leadership of the congressional intelligence oversight committees and will ensure there is a full accounting of the facts." An NSA spokeswoman said the agency could provide no information.