While I haven't been keeping up with the Able Danger scandal as much as I should, recent developments are disturbing. Lt. Col. Mark Shaffer (the whistle blower in this matter) has been officially silenced, and documents are being destroyed -- something I hear is happening without the legally required records being kept.

More here.

Meanwhile, certain members of Congress are deliberately, stealthily undermining whistleblower protection statutes.

The Pentagon has been fighting to close the hearings. Arlen Specter had gone on record as being irritated by Pentagon intransigence, and is demanding answers:

“I think the Department of Defense owes the American people an explanation of what went on here,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said later Wednesday at a briefing on Capitol Hill that an offer was made to do a classified briefing on Able Danger.

“As I understand it, the Judiciary Committee preferred to have an open hearing on a classified matter, and therefore the department declined to participate in an open hearing on a classified matter,” Rumsfeld said.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that some employees recall seeing an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist before the attacks.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Pentagon believes it has provided sufficient information on Able Danger to the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, which oversee the department.

Lt. Col. Mark Shaffer, a military intelligence officer who worked on Able Danger, was prepared to testify that three times he tried to meet with the FBI to discuss the unit’s findings, but was prevented from doing so because of legal concerns by department lawyers, according to Shaffer’s lawyer, Mark Zaid, who testified on his behalf.

This has all the earmarks of another bipartisan coverup (long a favorite topic of this blog), and I'm glad to see that Senator Specter is trying to get to the bottom of it.

No one is going to come out of this smelling like a rose, which is probably why there's something for everyone to coverup.

MORE: Mark Tapscott offers an intriguing glimpse at another coverup:

Perhaps today Specter will begin demanding answers from officials at the Pentagon and the FBI about why they have refused to provide the American people with answers to the many haunting questions about Iraqi complicity in the terrorist murders of thousands of our fellow citizens in Oklahoma, New York, Pennsyvania and Virginia.

(Might start by taking another look at "Bojinka," but let's not get carried away.....)