Congresswoman: Probe Bush Over 9/11

— -- Lawmaker: Did Bush Ignore 9/11 Warnings?

W A S H I N G T O N, April 12 — Fellow lawmakers today criticized Rep. Cynthia McKinney's allegations that Bush administration officials may have ignored advance warning of the Sept. 11 attacks and their political allies have profited from the war on terrorism.

Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, a conservative Democrat who has clashed before with McKinney, D-Ga., said her statement was "loony," also "dangerous and irresponsible." He said it was an example of McKinney trying to draw attention to herself.

McKinney made the statements in a March 25 interview on radio station KPFA in Berkeley, Calif.

"What did this administration know and when did it know it about the events of Sept. 11," McKinney said. "Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? What do they have to hide?"

McKinney alleged the military action that followed the attacks has benefited investment firms specializing in defense contracts. She singled out the Carlyle Group, where President Bush's father is on the board.

In a statement today, McKinney acknowledged she had no evidence anyone with ties to the Bush administration profited from the attacks. But she didn't back off her allegations that Bush officials may have had prior notice.

Carlyle Group spokesman Chris Ullman and White House press secretary Ari Fleischer dismissed the allegation as a baseless conspiracy theory.

"All I can tell you is the congresswoman must be running for the Hall of Fame of the Grassy Knoll Society," Fleischer said.

Erik Smith, spokesman for House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said Gephardt disagreed with McKinney's comments but defended her right to make them.

McKinney, a five-term House member from Atlanta, is an outspoken liberal who has angered both parties with her comments over the years.

In August 2000, McKinney, who is black, issued a statement contending then-Vice President Al Gore had a low "Negro tolerance level" and refused to travel with more than one black person at a time. More than a week later, McKinney's office explained the statement was a draft and never meant for publication.

More recently, she was criticized for writing a letter scolding former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for returning a Saudi prince's $10 million check for Sept. 11 victims. Giuliani returned it because, during a visit to New York, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal had suggested U.S. policies toward the Mideast were partly to blame for the attacks.