Rumsfeld subpoenaed over Abu Ghraib

[Richard Tafoya]

Connecticut Post:
http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_4004954

A Congressional committee subpoenaed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday at the request of U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays.

Shays, R-4, sought the subpoena after the Pentagon refused to answer questions regarding allegations that an Army whistleblower faced retaliation for discussing abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Shays, chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, is investigating allegations made by Army Spec. Samuel Provance that his attempts to provide information to investigators about prison abuses were rebuffed and that he then was retaliated against for providing unclassified information to the media.

"The bottom line is it's critical that our oversight inquiries be taken seriously by executive branch departments and that we get timely access to the information we need to do our job," Shays said.

"Today we are demanding that the Department of Defense provide information that is critical to our investigation."

In March, Shays and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the committee, sent a letter to Rumsfeld seeking information related to testimony Provance provided the subcommittee a month earlier.

The letter went unanswered.