Rep. Hoekstra's Twittering all the rage
WASHINGTON — If the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee can't keep a secret, who can?
That was one of the questions stirring on Capitol Hill on Friday when Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., spread the word on his Twitter page that he was on a nearly weeklong trip to the Middle East — a visit that Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, and others with him had pledged to keep quiet for security reasons.
Mr. Hoekstra's breach of security policy quickly became the story, rather than the issues Mr. McHugh and Republican leaders were covering with Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders in the region.
That lawmakers would hide such a trip is not unusual; the House Armed Services Committee and the Defense Department have policies against sharing details of trips to war zones until lawmakers leave those countries.
Indeed, several news outlets, including the Watertown Daily Times, honored the committee's request earlier this week to hold off on reporting about it. That has been standard practice when Mr. McHugh, now the ranking Republican on the committee, travels overseas on Armed Services business, as he has done since his arrival in Congress in 1993.
Then a French news agency, Agence France-Presse, reported about the trip, quoting an unnamed congressional aide and Mr. Hoekstra's Twitter entries on the Internet, which he made as the trip progressed.
Along with Mr. McHugh and Mr. Hoekstra were House Minority Leader Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., as well as two GOP members of the Appropriations Committee.
"Moved into green zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace.Headed to new US embassy Appears calmer less chaotic than previous here. about 9 hours ago from TwitterBerry," read one of Mr. Hoekstra's entries.
In another, he telegraphed the delegation's plan to visit Afghanistan — a detail of the journey that an aide to Mr. Boehner later said would be "extremely dangerous" to publish, although Mr. Hoekstra never revealed where in that large country the delegation might go.
"Heading to Iraq and Afghanistan weds night.I'll update on twitter and web pg as links are available.I'll ne back in touch mid next week. 4:33 PM Feb 3rd from TwitterBerry," he wrote in another.
The revelations forced Mr. McHugh's office to release the itinerary — after the fact — for the trip to Iraq, including a meeting with the commander of the 10th Mountain Division, Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, and Iraqi leaders.
But the details of those meetings were left to the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, who released a statement noting talks about rebuilding the Iraq oil industry and improving international relations. The statement, reported by Voice of Iraq, read in part:
"Talabani received the U.S. delegation of Congressmen from the Republican Party that comprised Jo Bonner (Alabama), Eric Cantor (Virginia), John McHugh (NY), Peter Hoekstra (Michigan), Tom Latham (Iowa) and John A. Boehner (Ohio)."
"President Talabani briefed the U.S. delegation on the positive developments in the Iraqi economy and the Iraqi leadership's plans to improve the economy and refurbish the country's oil sector," the statement continued.
The trip is Mr. McHugh's first as ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, although he has been to Iraq several times previously.
They met with U.S. Marines in charge of Iraqi elections in Anbar Province and with U.S. soldiers at Balad Air Base.
The visit comes on the heels of peaceful elections in which Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's party won strong approval overall, which analysts read as a sign that Iraqis support the idea of a strong central government.
