Sen. Sessions blasts Justice Department for mixing politics into Ft. Hood inquest

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is questioning the motive behind what he sees as the Justice Department’s reluctance to provide information about the Fort Hood massacre to congressional investigators. 

Sessions said he talked last week to Attorney General Eric Holder, who told him that the Justice Department and the FBI could not provide information to Senate investigators because it could hinder the prosecution of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the alleged gunman accused of killing 13 people at the sprawling Army base in Texas.

Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and also a member of the Armed Services panel, believes Justice is worried about the political fallout involved in revealing details about a case that could have been prevented.

“[Holder] said, ‘We can’t provide information on Fort Hood because it will impact the trial,’” Sessions recounted. “It’s not as if this is a difficult case. I think the real reason is that they’re afraid of information coming out that could be politically damaging.”

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Holder is set to testify before a Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department on Wednesday morning. Republican senators plan to grill Holder on the fallout over Fort Hood, as well as the Obama administration’s decision to try five terrorist suspects in U.S. courts, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks, in a Manhattan court.