Levin Report - A 'Partisan Effort to Influence Election'

LEVIN REPORT: A 'PARTISAN EFFORT TO INFLUENCE ELECTION'

Report is more suited to politics than perfecting our intelligence community, Cornyn says

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made the following statement Thursday regarding the partisan report of committee Democrats on pre-war intelligence issued 13 days before the election:

"In a campaign year already filled with urban legends, Sen. Levin's report is clearly a partisan effort to influence the upcoming election rather than an attempt to correct the flaws in our intelligence community. Just a few short years ago, Sen. Levin encouraged the Clinton administration to take military action against Saddam Hussein's tyrannical regime and WMD. So, it's disappointing that Sen. Levin seems to have forgotten the threat he said Hussein posed and is now attempting to exploit any shortcomings in our intelligence community for political gain.

"As the unanimous bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee-of which Sen. Levin is a member-made clear in July, there was no evidence of pressure from the administration or anyone else to mischaracterize or exaggerate the intelligence about Iraq's WMD capabilities. Unlike the bipartisan report of the Intelligence Committee, this partisan report is more suited to politics than perfecting our intelligence community."