News leak of Tillman report riles lawmaker

Honda threatens hearings if he's not satisfied with probe

Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Angered by the leak of partial results of a Pentagon probe into the friendly fire death of former NFL star Pat Tillman, Rep. Mike Honda, the Democrat who represents Tillman's former San Jose district, threatened Saturday to call for congressional hearings on the issue.

"I am dismayed that the family of Army Ranger Pat Tillman was not afforded the opportunity to review the results of the investigation into his death prior to their public release," Honda said in a statement. "The Tillmans have been subjected to great sorrow beginning with Pat's death and over the course of a deeply flawed and possibly dishonest series of prior investigations."

The final report by the Defense Department inspector general -- begun 18 months ago at the urging of the Tillmans, Honda and other members of Congress -- is scheduled to be released Monday.

But late Friday, the Pentagon leaked partial results to several news organizations in Washington, which reported that the probe found that nine officers, including as many as four generals, were at fault for mishandling information after Tillman's death. However, the probe also determined there was no orchestrated cover-up, according to the Associated Press.

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