Congress hears report on nuclear agency chairman

Report calls Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman manipulativeBut Congress argues over whether his behavior is illegalGregory Jaczko accused of withholding info on Yucca Mountain siteJaczko: "I believe I was forthcoming with my fellow commissioners"

Washington (CNN) -- In the days after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Gregory Jaczko appeared frequently on television as the calm, steady hand of the U.S. nuclear power industry.

But at a hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, critics painted a different picture of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, saying he ruled by intimidation, yelled at his staff, was manipulative and -- in one key case -- withheld information from his fellow commissioners in order to achieve his goal.

And Congress members dickered over whether another word can be used to describe Jaczko's actions: illegal.

Jaczko is under fire for using administrative procedures to kill a controversial plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Fellow commissioners say Jaczko misled them about the consequences of his administrative actions or kept them in the dark entirely.

Last week, a report by the agency's inspector general appeared to clear Jaczko of any legal wrongdoing, saying his decision was supported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission attorney and was within his discretion as chairman.

But at Tuesday's hearing, members of the inspector general's staff were ambiguous and contradictory.

"Did you find that the chairman of the NRC acted illegally?" California Democrat Henry Waxman asked.

"No. No. No, we didn't, sir," Inspector General Hubert Bell said.

But asked by Pennsylvania Republican Tim Murphy whether Jaczko violated a statute requiring the chairmen to keep commissioners informed, Bell's assistant Joseph McMillan responded: "One could draw that conclusion."

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, drew that conclusion.

"He violated the law," Barton said. "He did not uphold his responsibility under the statute. That is clear layman common sense."

The dispute is only the latest in the 25-year history of Yucca Mountain. In 1987, after the Department of Energy conducted studies of nine potential nuclear waste sites, Congress selected Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the only site for further study for the first national repository.

But the plan faced stiff opposition in Nevada, with Sen. Harry Reid vowing that the site would never open there.

Jaczko, a former top aide to Reid, also opposed Yucca Mountain. After being appointed to the nuclear commission, Jaczko recused himself from matters involving Yucca Mountain for a year, saying at his confirmation hearing that he hoped he could establish his independence during that time.

Later, President Barack Obama appointed him as chairman of the five-member body.

In February 2010, the Obama administration said it would suspend licensing for Yucca Mountain, saying it was "not a workable option."

After that announcement, critics say, Jaczko took steps to stop the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's consideration of the Yucca Mountain application. According to the inspector general report, Jaczko directed agency staff to stop working on a Yucca Mountain review, saying his actions had been reviewed and agreed to by his fellow commissioners.

But, according to the report, "one commissioner was not informed of the language, two were provided some information but did not recognize the impact ... and one commissioner disagreed with the language because he recognized the impact it would have." Jaczko "was not forthcoming with the other commissioners about his intent" to have staff members stop work on Yucca Mountain, the report states.

"Clearly, the commissioners that we spoke to had no understanding" about the consequences of Jaczko's action and were "somewhat agitated" when they found out, McMillan said.

"It appears that Chairman Jaczko has let politics trump science here, that he's manipulated the process," said Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pennsylvania. "He's misled some of the fellow commissioners about the consequences of the actions that were taken, and I think the credibility of the NRC has been damaged; its reputation has been damaged. There's some real serious questions about the agency's independence and scientific integrity."

Jaczko on Tuesday denied misleading others.

"I believe I was forthcoming with my fellow commissioners," he said in a statement following the hearing. "This was my decision and that has been clear from the start. In leadership positions you have to be prepared to take the heat. I am fully comfortable with the decision because it was entirely within my authority as chairman."

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, said complaints that politics had trumped science were "ironic" given the history of the search for a place to store the nation's nuclear waste. Past congressional leaders had blocked proposals for numerous other sites for political reasons, he said.

"This issue has been nothing but political since the very beginning," Markey said.

CNN

Clinton, Joint Chiefs chairman press Pakistan (AP)

ISLAMABAD – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Pakistan on Friday to repair badly frayed relations after the killing of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden at a comfortable hideout not far from this capital city.

Amid frustration in both countries with the other's priorities, Clinton was joined by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to deliver a twofold message.

The United States wants to soothe nerves and hurt feelings following the raid nearly a month ago by U.S. Navy SEALs on bin Laden's compound, a strike that was kept secret even from Pakistan's top Army and intelligence officials.

But Clinton and Mullen also were telling Pakistan it must show renewed commitment to U.S. security interests, chiefly to eradicate safe havens for militants who attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The pair hammered home a warning that lower-ranking U.S. officials have been making to Pakistan since the bin Laden raid: The billions of dollars in military and development aid that flow to Pakistan annually will dwindle if Pakistan is seen to play both sides.

Mullen and Clinton were meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the nation's army and spy chiefs in back to back meetings under extremely tight security. Clinton's visit was not announced in advance for fear of an assassination attempt or terror strike.

Clinton and Mullen are the highest-ranking U.S. officials to confer with Pakistani leaders since the raid, which splintered already fragile support in both countries for the agenda of cooperation that top U.S. and Pakistani officials say they want.

In Paris on Thursday, Clinton acknowledged that Pakistan has not always done all that the U.S. wanted to go after militants hiding on its soil. Pakistan has waged a two-year campaign against militants targeting the weak U.S.-backed government but has done little to expunge safe havens for militants who attack U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The U.S. will keep pressing that point and trying to strengthen a relationship with nuclear-armed Pakistan, Clinton said, because it's in the long-term security interest of the U.S. to do so.

"There have been times when we wanted to push harder, and for various reasons they have not," Clinton said. "Those differences are real. They will continue." She added strong praise for Pakistani cooperation since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying the country had allowed the killing of "more terrorists than anyplace else in the world."

Pakistan's prime minister said Thursday that his country will use "all appropriate means" to attack militant hideouts inside the country, amid rising criticism of the nation's security forces in the wake of a deadly 16-hour assault on a naval base last weekend.

Yousuf Raza Gilani gave no indication the army was considering new offensives along the Afghan border, where most of the militants in Pakistan are based along with other groups and affiliates who are the greatest danger to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The United States wants to see action in the North Waziristan region especially, where a deadly Afghan Taliban faction is based, to help it put pressure on Afghan insurgents and enable it to begin withdrawing troops later this summer after 10 years of war.

"We do have a set of expectations that we are looking for the Pakistani government to meet," Clinton said, but "it is not as though they have been on the sidelines."

The U.S. raid on May 2 that killed bin Laden has enraged Pakistanis and undermined the credibility of the country's military.

The Pakistani government has demanded that some U.S. military counterterror trainers leave the country. Pakistani leaders also have done little to tamp down anti-American fervor following the bin Laden raid, and at times have appeared to whip it up.

The U.S. has been quietly helping train Pakistan security forces in the northwest, but that cooperation has faltered after the bin Laden raid.

Yahoo! News

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Senate chairman says Goldman Sachs 'misled' clients and Congress

The chairman of a bipartisan Senate panel investigating the financial crisis says Goldman Sachs "misled" their clients and the Congress and called the tactics used by the Wall Street firm in its handling of subprime mortgages "disgraceful."

The panel concluded after a two-year probe that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. profited from the crisis by betting billions against the subprime market, then deceived investors and Congress about its conduct.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., says some of the findings in the 635-page report by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will be referred to the Justice Department and the SEC for possible criminal or civil action.

Asked if he was disappointed that no Wall Street figures had been jailed in connection with the crisis, Levin responded, "There's still time," the Times reports.

Read full subcommittee report here.

"In my judgment, Goldman clearly misled their clients and they misled the Congress," Levin told reporters before the report was issued Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Levin said the panel has found new evidence that shows Goldman's misleading of investors went beyond that one case. The report also charges that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and other executives misled the panel when it testified last April.

"Goldman was, I think, the only major bank that did well during the recession. We tried to find out, 'How is it they did well?' "Levin said. "The tactics that they used

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