Kevin Drum: Weldon's Chart

WELDON'S CHART....Time magazine has more about Curt Weldon's famous "Able Danger" chart:

In a particularly dramatic scene in Weldon’s book, Countdown to Terror, the Pennsylvania Republican described personally handing to then-Deputy National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, just after Sept. 11, an Able Danger chart produced in 1999 identifying Atta. But Weldon told Time he’s no longer certain Atta’s name was on that original document. The congressman says he handed Hadley his only copy. Still, last week he referred reporters to a recently reconstructed version of the chart in his office where, among dozens of names and photos of terrorists from around the world, there was a color mug shot of Mohammad Atta, circled in black marker.

So: Weldon is no longer certain Atta's name was on his original chart? Isn't that the kind of thing that would stick in your memory banks?

And he gave Hadley his only copy? Then how did he have a poster-size copy of the chart — again without Atta's name — a few months later?

What's more, if Atta's name wasn't on the chart in 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004, why did the chart suddenly have a color mug shot of Atta in 2005? Hmmm?

It's pretty obvious that Weldon is, um, embellishing things a bit. Maybe more than a bit. Any chance of finding a decent Democrat to run for his seat in 2006?