DMN INVESTIGATES

John Galligan (right), the attorney for Fort Hood massacre defendant Nidal Malik Hasan (lower right), has started a blog and is poking away at the prosecution.

Galligan complains, among other things, that the Army is gearing up for a death-penalty trial but has refused his request for a "mitigation specialist" -- an expert who could address extenuating circumstances that might spare Hasan from capital punishment.

Col. Morgan Lamb denied the defense request "because the mitigation specialist also happens to be an attorney," Galligan writes. "Obviously, Colonel Lamb was not properly advised that this same mitigation specialist has also been requested and approved in another Army capital murder case now pending at Fort Lewis, Washington. In short, the US Army is operating with a double set of standards....

"What is the rationale for such disparate treatment? One can't help but wonder - is it because [Hasan] is Muslim?"

Elsewhere on the blog, for reasons I don't understand, Galligan uses President Obama's middle name (Hussein) when referring to him and misspells his first name.

How does the Army respond to the defense claims? "Fort Hood officials have no plans to comment on personal blogs related to the November 5, 2009 incident," says an e-mail I just received from post spokesman Tyler Broadway.

Rarely have I talked with someone who speaks so unflinchingly as retired Army Capt. Shannon Meehan (right).

First he wrote the book Beyond Duty, explaining how he accidentally killed a family in Iraq and how depression nearly killed him afterward.

Then, shortly after the Fort Hood massacre, he told me that shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had been seeking to have psychiatric patients on the base prosecuted for war crimes.

That wasn't a popular thing to say at the time, given that a Hood higher-up had recently called Hasan a "hardworking, dedicated young man who gave great care to his patients." Speaking up also meant Meehan had to reveal that he had been a psych patient at the Central Texas post.

His latest soul-baring appears this week in The New York Times, where he also issues a challenge to us civilians:

"In recent months I've been trying to honor the lives I took by writing and speaking in public about my experience, to show that those deaths are not tucked neatly away in a foreign land," Meehan writes. "They may seem distant, but they are not. Soldiers bring the ghosts home with them, and it's everyone else's job to hear about them, no matter how painful it may be."

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan wasn't the only guy with extremist ties counseling soldiers at Fort Hood last year, as my story in Sunday's Dallas Morning News shows.

There was at least one more: Louay Safi (shown at right). A month after the worst military-base massacre in U.S. history, he taught Islam to officers who were deploying to Afghanistan. He'd been doing this work on bases around the country, as a military subcontractor, since 2005.

That same year, federal prosecutors named Safi an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorism-support trial of his old buddy Sami al-Arian. The reason: a wiretapped phone call in which the two men mocked a U.S. order banning dealings with foreign terrorist groups and agreed that Jews controlled the White House.

Al-Arian has since been convicted. But he still faces criminal contempt charges for refusing to testify before a grand jury about the International Institute of Islamic Thought -- a northern Virginia think tank that counterterrorism agents raided in 2002, when Safi was its research director.

Safi now faces a criminal inquiry by the military but has never been criminally charged. He denies wrongdoing. He also has described post-9/11 counterterrorism crackdowns as a "campaign against Islam."

We're back after an extended break during the holidays. Let's ease into our familiar routines with a look at some of the interesting public-interest stories from the weekend:

1. If you're catching up on the recent rise in terror threats, The News published a nice takeout by The Washington Post exploring Al-Qaeda's re-emergence in Yemen. Yemen is the base of the imam who advised the Army psychiatrist behind the Fort Hood killings, as my colleague Brooks Egerton has blogged, and has apparent ties to the Nigerian who tried to blow up a plane bound for Detroit.

2. Much has been written about the economic wonders of the new Cowboys Stadium. The News' Jeff Mosier reminds us that in one instance what Jerry giveth Arlington, he taketh from Dallas. Fair Park had a "hollow feeling" as the annual Cotton Bowl football game was played out west for the first time Saturday. Makes you wonder what the economic losses were for Dallas?

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Dave Michaels just sent me this dispatch from The Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau:

FBI agents who discovered Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's extremist ties before the Fort Hood massacre may not have had access to key Army records on the psychiatrist, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (right) said today.

That's because some information counter-terrorism investigators need stays in military education or training files "and does not make its way to the personnel files" that intelligence agencies would get for an initial review, said Collins. She's the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which is investigating how pre-massacre intelligence about Hasan was handled.

Hasan's colleagues and superiors repeatedly raised concerns about him during his psychiatric training in the Washington area, as has been widely reported since the Nov. 5 slaughter. Issues included his fundamentalist Islamic leanings, religious proselytizing, commitment to the Army, poor work performance and mental stability.

"It doesn't appear that the military has updated its personnel policies to reflect the threat of Islamic extremism," Collins said after a closed hearing with Defense Department officials. "There appears to be a real gap in the protocols in the personnel procedures, and that is an issue we're exploring."

Army spokesman George Wright said he couldn't comment on Hasan's personnel file. But in general, he told The News, a soldier's supervisor decides whether to include letters of counseling or reprimand in the soldier's personnel file.

The FBI announced an independent review today of its "policies, practices and actions prior to the tragic events at Fort Hood" -- in other words, the Nov. 5 massacre that Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of perpetrating.

Federal Bureau of Investigation boss Robert Mueller said the review will be conducted by William Webster (right), who formerly headed the FBI and the CIA.

FBI officials have acknowledged that one of its terrorism task forces intercepted e-mails a year ago between Hasan and an extremist imam in Yemen. The officials say no investigation resulted because the correspondence was consistent with Hasan's psychiatric research on Muslims in the military.

Intelligence experts consulted by The Dallas Morning News say any contact with the imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, should have been pursued.

The FBI said it has completed a preliminary review of its pre-massacre actions and policies. A spokesman declined to comment today on what that probe found.

"We must be sure that the systems we have in place give investigators the tools they need to carry out their responsibilities. At the same time, we must ensure constitutional protections and the confidence of the American public we serve," Mueller said. "It is essential to determine whether there are improvements to our current practices or other authorities that could make us all safer in the future."

Webster will coordinate his work with reviews being conducted by the military and will seek not to interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation, the FBI said.

Dave Michaels, my colleague in The Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau, just sent in this dispatch:

Almost a month after the Fort Hood massacre, lawmakers investigating it still don't have information from federal agencies regarding what they knew in advance about shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (right), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said today that his investigators haven't been able to interview members of an FBI-led joint terrorism task force who knew about Hasan's contact with a radical imam before the Nov. 5 shootings.

Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said his committee also requested documents that haven't been produced. "Put me down as restless right now, but still understanding that they have a lot they are doing."

Military prosecutors want a formal psychiatric review of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (right) to determine whether he can stand trial for the Fort Hood massacre, we learned late last night.

Read our story for some preliminary discussion of the Army's possible motives.

We're working on a follow-up story now. Do you have questions you'd like to see asked and answered? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Only one of the 13 people (right) killed in the Fort Hood massacre was a civilian. And that's no accident, The Austin American-Statesman reports today.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan apparently targeted soldiers and avoided others nearby, U.S. Rep. John Carter and an anonymous source close to the investigation told the paper.

The story makes sense in light of previous reports that Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, had ties to a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki. Before the massacre, the imam advocated killing soldiers who fight against Muslims; afterward, he called Hasan a hero.

Do you have a tip about Fort Hood? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Dave Michaels in The Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau just sent me this dispatch:

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee said Tuesday that the government's failure to deal with Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's growing radicalism was similar to the intelligence community's failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., made his comments after attending a closed-door briefing with administration officials about last week's massacre at Fort Hood, which killed 13 people. Lieberman didn't discuss any details of the briefing but said all signs indicate that Hasan committed an "act of Islamic extremist terrorism."

"There is a similarity to 9/11, which is there was information in different places in our government, which if it had been connected, would have said to people this guy was a real danger," Lieberman said.

Several people have told The News that Hasan, a psychiatrist, was conflicted about being a Muslim in the U.S. Army, complained that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan constituted a "war on Islam," and wanted some of his patients to face war crimes charges.

Here are the key links:

1. A Texas congressman says Nidal Malik Hasan wired money to Pakistan, which Muslim extremist groups use as a base to raise funds and carry out terrorist attacks.

2. Hasan is permanently paralyzed, one of his lawyers says today.

Here are the latest developments regarding last week's slaughter at Fort Hood:

* Formal charges were filed against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- "13 specifications of premeditated murder, in violation of Article 118, Uniform Code of Military Justice," as the Army puts it. More on this below.

* The White House released a copy of a memo that President Obama sent to the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence and the head of the FBI. It reads: "On November 6, 2009, I directed that an immediate inventory be conducted of all intelligence in U.S. Government files that existed prior to November 6, 2009, relevant to the tragic shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, especially anything having to do with the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, U.S. Army. In addition, I directed an immediate review be initiated to determine how any such intelligence was handled, shared, and acted upon within individual departments and agencies and what intelligence was shared with others... Preliminary results of this review shall be provided by November 30, 2009."

* The Dallas Morning News' Dave Michaels reports that authorities have been looking into whether Hasan wired money to Pakistan, which is battling a massive Islamist insurgency and is widely believed to be Osama bin Laden's hiding place.

Was Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan insane?

Officials discussed the question last year at his military medical school and the Army hospital in the Washington, D.C., area where he later worked, National Public Radio is reporting.

My fellow investigative reporter Lee Hancock and photographer Courtney Perry got a look today inside Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's apartment (right), now that criminal investigators in Killeen are done with it.

There were no obvious clues left behind, of course. But there was a plastic container for this LaserMax sight -- the kind of thing you might buy if you were planning to shoot a bunch of people. ("FIRST SHOT CONFIDENCE," the manufacturer advertises.) Price tag: $229.99.

Guns Galore, the Killeen store where Hasan bought a handgun in August, sells the product for that price.

Lee says they also saw several old bottles of prescription pills. One, from early 2001, was for the HIV medication Combivir.

Combivir (in combination with another anti-HIV drug) was a popular weapon against HIV in 2001. That's according to Dr. Brady Allen, a Dallas HIV specialist who just spoke to my colleague Sue Goetinck Ambrose.

Combivir sometimes was prescribed to health care workers immediately after they feared they'd been exposed to HIV via needle stick or blood splash.

Hasan graduated from a military medical school in Maryland in 2001. For reasons that aren't immediately clear, the prescription came from a pharmacy on Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio.

Also in Hasan's apartment were Jordanian and Israeli coins, a high-grade paper shredder and a book from India called Dreams and Interpretations.

Hasan, you may recall, moved out of the apartment last Thursday, a few hours before the shooting rampage. The complex manager gave journalists permission to view the unit today.

Bell County is refusing to release copies of 911 calls made in connection with last week's massacre at Fort Hood.

The refusal, written by Bell County attorney Richard J. Miller, means the state attorney general will issue an opinion on whether the legal stance is correct.

"A criminal investigation of the matter by the Federal Bureau of Investigation is pending at this time...it is believed that release of the requested information at this time would unduly interfere with the progress of that investigation, as well as any potential prosecution, primarily because of the need to identify and interview witnesses to the offense and not jeopardize their future cooperation," Miller wrote to representatives from The Dallas Morning News, WFAA, Fox News, CNN, The Associated Press and the Temple Daily Telegram.

Miller also wrote that provisions of the Texas Homeland Security Act might make the calls exempt from disclosure because the shootings "could possibly relate to terrorism and homeland security,"

The state attorney general's office has 45 business days to issue a ruling on the matter.

Fort Hood massacre suspect Nidal Malik Hasan (right) is a Virginia-born Army psychiatrist who counseled soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Authorities initially said they killed the major after he took part in a shooting rampage that left about a dozen colleagues dead at the Central Texas base. Tonight, inexplicably, they are saying that Hasan was wounded but survived.

Hasan worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the nation's capital for six years before being transferred to Texas in July. He was going to be sent into a combat zone overseas soon and didn't want to go, relatives and other said.

Hasan graduated in 2003 from the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., which is part of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Its curriculum is longer than those found at other U.S. medical schools, with students getting training in areas specific to career-oriented military physicians.

Virginia Board of Medicine records say he completed his residency in psychiatry in 2007 at Walter Reed. He recently completed a fellowship there in disaster and preventive psychiatry.

The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, which is part of Uniformed Services University, lists Hasan as a member. The organization describes itself as "one of the nation's oldest and most highly regarded, academic-based organizations dedicated to advancing trauma-informed knowledge, leadership and methodologies."

Do you have a tip (as opposed to a rant) about Hasan? Email me, please.