Upon reports that the independent review of the FBI’s actions in the Fort Hood shooting are going to be delivered to the bureau today, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has asked FBI Director Robert Mueller to make that report available to the public as well.
The review team, led by Judge William Webster, is expected to submit a 150-page report, containing findings and 18 formal recommendations for necessary reforms in a range of areas within the FBI.
“This report is a matter of tremendous public importance, and I call on you to release an unclassified version of it as soon as possible. In doing so, I urge you to personally ensure that the contents of the report are not unnecessarily classified to shield their public release, because such action would come directly at the expense of transparency and accountability,” Cornyn wrote Mueller.
“The key findings and recommendations of this report must be made public, so we can glean any and all lessons from this incident,” he added. “The American people and specifically the Fort Hood community in Texas have the right to know.”
Thirteen were killed and 29 wounded on Nov. 5, 2009, when Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, reportedly opened fire at the base. Hasan, an Islamic extremist, could receive the death penalty; his trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 20.
“Our government failed the brave Americans who were killed and wounded at Fort Hood that day,” Cornyn wrote. “The devastation inflicted on them was preventable, and we must make it a high priority to ascertain exactly where the system broke down and ensure it does not happen again.”
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