Rumsfeld apparently refuses to testify at hearing on death of Pat Tillman
Michael Roston
Published: Tuesday July 31, 2007
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appears to have refused to testify at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the friendly fire death of Army Specialist Patrick Tillman, RAW STORY has learned.
Tuesday afternoon, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a witness list for the Tillman hearing. Rumsfeld, who was invited to testify by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) on July 16, was not present.
The witnesses scheduled to testify are:
* Gen. John P. Abizaid (Retired), Former Commander, U.S. Central Command
* Gen. Richard B. Myers (Retired), Former Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff
* Gen. Bryan Douglas Brown (Retired), Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
* Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger, Jr. (Retired), Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
RAW STORY was awaiting a statement from the Oversight Committee at press time.
The hearing is set to focus on the sequence of events and what Department of Defense staff knew of Tillman's 2004 death in Afghanistan, which was falsely reported as resulting from enemy forces. Tillman's death was a result of fratricide, or 'friendly fire.'
Tillman, a former NFL player, voluntarily enlisted in the Army with his brother after September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
In an exchange on July 13 before Rumsfeld was invited to testify, Rep. Waxman announced that White House Counsel Fred Fielding had refused to issue certain documents to the committee because of executive privilege.
The group VoteVets.org strongly criticized the White House for the assertion of privilege in the Tillman investigation.
"There is no Executive Privilege claim that holds any water when the matter is the death of an American soldier - especially one who had been used by the Administration as a poster for the war," said Jon Soltz, an Iraq War veteran who heads the group, in a statement sent to RAW STORY. "By refusing to release every pertinent document, the White House is fostering a climate of distrust among those in the military, hurting efforts to recruit new soldiers, insulting the memory of Pat Tillman, and causing undue pain to his family. Unless the President has something to hide, he should release all the documents requested by Republicans and Democrats on the Committee."
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