Curt Weldon: The Troublemaker

The CIA made him do It
If moral and intellectual certitude alone could win Weldon re-election or a committee chairmanship, he could stop campaigning right now. "He was always resolute in his belief that he was on the right side of the issue," said Michael Conallen, Weldon's former chief of staff. "He's been extremely critical of this administration. Sometimes, maybe that's not the best thing to do, and some of the issues he takes are not the best thing for his personal political career."

Last year, Weldon published a book based on a two-year correspondence he had with a man who claims direct knowledge of Iranian plans to attack the United States. The source, whom Weldon has referred to only as "Ali," was an official in the shah's government, and he has told Weldon, among other things, that the Iranians are harboring Osama bin Laden, that they direct a pan-Islamic terrorist network, and that Iranian-backed suicide bombers planned to fly planes into nuclear reactors in North America. After Ali first contacted Weldon, through a mutual acquaintance who is a former member of Congress, Weldon passed along his warnings to the CIA. The agency, Weldon said, did nothing. So he wrote a book: "Countdown to Terror: The Top-Secret Information That Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America ... and How the CIA Has Ignored It."

MORE FROM NATIONAL JOURNAL

National Journal Section Front

Walter: GOP can break negative cycle Mercurio: Gunning for a new RNC Cook: How will Democrats govern? Brownstein: The GOP's dangerous imbalance Blumenthal: Pollsters pretty accurate National Journal Section Front