[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 26069]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             AHMED CHALABI

  Mr. DURBIN. The last issue, which is one that is topical, relates to 
a man by the name of Ahmed Chalabi. What a fascinating man he is. Ahmed 
Chalabi is an Iraqi exile, now back in Iraq after the fall of Saddam 
Hussein. What an interesting history this man has.
  In 1992, Ahmed Chalabi was convicted of bank fraud and embezzlement 
of over $230 million for a bank he was running in Jordan. To escape the 
sentence of 22 years in prison, he fled to London and then to the 
United States, and certainly that wasn't the last we heard of him. He 
created something called the Iraqi National Congress, which ingratiated 
itself with the Bush administration to the point where the Bush 
administration paid to Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress $39 
million. Then Mr. Chalabi gave us misleading information about the 
situation in Iraq, saying there were mobile biological weapons labs, 
which turned out to be false, information from a source named 
``Curveball,'' of all things, one of most discredited sources of 
intelligence we have ever had who happened to be the brother of one of 
Chalabi's aides. It turned out that the information he was feeding us 
all along about Iraq, by and large, was false.
  Mr. Chalabi was unrepentant when he was confronted with this. From 
the London Daily Telegraph, in an article on February 19, 2004, I 
quote:

       Mr. Chalabi, by far the most effective anti-Saddam lobbyist 
     in Washington, shrugged off charges that he deliberately 
     misled U.S. Intelligence. ``We are heroes in error,'' he told 
     the Telegraph in Baghdad.

  He goes on to say:

       As far as we're concerned, we've been entirely successful. 
     That tyrant Saddam [Hussein] is gone and the Americans are in 
     Baghdad. What was said before is not important. The Bush 
     administration is looking for a scapegoat. We're ready to 
     fall on our swords if he wants.

  That was not the end of the story. Now that he has misled the 
Americans into invading Iraq, now that he has us in a position where 
our American forces are there, he is trying to build up his political 
fortunes. In May of last year, Iraqi security forces raided his home 
for documents, accusing him of passing American secrets to the Iranians 
and endangering American troops and security. He is currently under 
active investigation.
  You might expect this man would be in hiding. He is not. He is in 
Washington. He is not being served with a subpoena. He is being served 
lunch. Do you know whom he has visited with in the last week, this man 
under active investigation? Vice President Cheney is one; Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; the 
National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley; the Treasury Secretary, John 
Snow. And he is under active investigation by the FBI for having sold 
American secrets to the Iranians.
  I don't understand this. It seems to me that if this man is suspected 
of endangering our troops, he should be called in for questioning, if 
not more. Instead, he is being called in for a cup of coffee and a 
cookie. That is what this administration thinks is playing straight 
with Iraq.
  The American people know better. I am glad yesterday, by a vote of 79 
to 19, we told this administration their policies in Iraq have to 
change.
  It is long overdue for the Vice President of the United States to 
hold a press conference and answer questions. It is long overdue for 
him to speak truth to the American people, to be candid about the 
misuse of intelligence leading to the invasion of Iraq, to be candid 
about his role in disclosing the identity of Valerie Plame to Lewis 
``Scooter'' Libby, to be candid about his role in terms of meeting with 
oil company executives to create this Energy bill, and to be honest 
about his relationship with Ahmed Chalabi. The American people deserve 
straightforward, honest answers.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 15 
minutes to complete my statement.
  Mr. ENZI. I object. We have the pension bill scheduled on a very 
tight time schedule.
  Mr. SCHUMER. It is only an additional 3 or 4 minutes. We have 8\1/2\ 
left, so it would be an additional 5.
  Mr. ENZI. OK.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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