We get accused of not "connecting the dots" by the 9/11 commission, then we starting connecting the dots, and all the sudden Bush is doing it for political purposes. We say nothing, and a building gets bombed, and it's Bush's fault for not saying anything to warn us. You guys are the despicable ones.
August 3, 2004, 6:44 PM EDT
NEWARK, N.J. -- A member of New Jersey's congressional delegation on Tuesday criticized the Bush administration for not fully disclosing the nature of information concerning specific threats that led to raising the national terror alert over the weekend.
Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., also questioned whether the timing of the release was politically motivated, noting that the raised terror alert comes on the heels of last week's Democratic convention.
Pascrell, who serves on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, said he was angry that he and other New Jersey officials were not initially told that some of the information predated even the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Pascrell, of Paterson, was also angered that the information was not clearly characterized as surveillance data, as it turned out to be, rather than operational plans for an actual attack.
"Why didn't they tell us in the beginning?" Pascrell said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Look at the timing, look at the situation that exists, and you have to wonder."
Specifically, Pascrell questioned whether a Sunday news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was intended to divert attention from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, who accepted his party's nomination on Thursday in Boston.
Pascrell said he was among officials who had distanced themselves from a statement on Sunday by former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean that, "every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism."
Pascrell said that by Tuesday he began thinking, "Maybe it's not such far-fetched idea."
At a news conference in New York, Ridge defended his office's actions Tuesday, saying it was "essential" to release the information and raise the terror threat level to orange over the weekend, and that the security measures taken by businesses and local, state and federal agencies made it more difficult for terrorists to achieve their goals.
Ridge rejected the notion that the release of the information was politically motivated.
"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," Ridge told reporters. "Our job is to identify the threat."
Meanwhile, Newark remained peaceful on Tuesday amid tightened security around Prudential Financial Inc.'s white marble headquarters on Broad Street, one of the specified terrorist targets, along with sites in New York and Washington.
Academy Street, which runs along the east side of Prudential Plaza, was sealed off from Broad Street, after having remained open Monday. Concrete barriers were also placed in front of the Mulberry Street entrance to the Gateway Center office complex, where Prudential also has operations.
Rocco M. Malanga, Newark's homeland security director, said a heightened police presence remained in place. He said no terror-related arrests had been made, and nothing out of the ordinary was reported.
Steve Kodak, a spokesman for the FBI's Newark office, said that the agency was looking into the possibility that people working inside Prudential Plaza may have collected some of the surveillance information.
The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. -- A member of New Jersey's congressional delegation on Tuesday criticized the Bush administration for not fully disclosing the nature of information concerning specific threats that led to raising the national terror alert over the weekend.
Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., also questioned whether the timing of the release was politically motivated, noting that the raised terror alert comes on the heels of last week's Democratic convention.
Pascrell, who serves on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, said he was angry that he and other New Jersey officials were not initially told that some of the information predated even the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Pascrell, of Paterson, was also angered that the information was not clearly characterized as surveillance data, as it turned out to be, rather than operational plans for an actual attack.
"Why didn't they tell us in the beginning?" Pascrell said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Look at the timing, look at the situation that exists, and you have to wonder."
Specifically, Pascrell questioned whether a Sunday news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was intended to divert attention from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, who accepted his party's nomination on Thursday in Boston.
Pascrell said he was among officials who had distanced themselves from a statement on Sunday by former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean that, "every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism."
Pascrell said that by Tuesday he began thinking, "Maybe it's not such far-fetched idea."
At a news conference in New York, Ridge defended his office's actions Tuesday, saying it was "essential" to release the information and raise the terror threat level to orange over the weekend, and that the security measures taken by businesses and local, state and federal agencies made it more difficult for terrorists to achieve their goals.
Ridge rejected the notion that the release of the information was politically motivated.
"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," Ridge told reporters. "Our job is to identify the threat."
Meanwhile, Newark remained peaceful on Tuesday amid tightened security around Prudential Financial Inc.'s white marble headquarters on Broad Street, one of the specified terrorist targets, along with sites in New York and Washington.
Academy Street, which runs along the east side of Prudential Plaza, was sealed off from Broad Street, after having remained open Monday. Concrete barriers were also placed in front of the Mulberry Street entrance to the Gateway Center office complex, where Prudential also has operations.
Rocco M. Malanga, Newark's homeland security director, said a heightened police presence remained in place. He said no terror-related arrests had been made, and nothing out of the ordinary was reported.
Steve Kodak, a spokesman for the FBI's Newark office, said that the agency was looking into the possibility that people working inside Prudential Plaza may have collected some of the surveillance information.
The Associated Press
