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| The whole affair involving the CIA's intel gathering tactics -- and subsequent decision to destroy tapes of its interrogations -- were part of an ongoing attempt by the Bush administration to obfuscate the truth, he said. "Let me say, this is not an isolated episode," said the former chairman. "This administration has had a practice of covering up, disclosing, what they were doing in a variety of matters. This is just one example of an ongoing pattern." It's not the first time Graham has accused the Bush administration of a cover-up, having previously alleged that the White House had hidden evidence exposing Saudi Arabia's links to the Sept. 11 hijackers. In his book 'Intelligence Matters,' Mr. Graham writes that the administration prohibited a Congressional inquiry's interview of the landlord of two of the 9/11 hijackers, who he said could help prove the connection. Graham called a letter to that effect "a smoking gun," telling reporters that the "reason for this cover-up goes right to the White House." |