First came questions about whether anyone missed emotional signals that suspected Fort Hood shooter, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was close to cracking. Now U.S. media say Congress wants to know if he was also veering toward Islamist militancy.

A preliminary review of Hasan’s computer has revealed no evidence of any connection to terror groups or conspirators, according to a report by CBS News.

But lawmakers have asked the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies to preserve documents on Hasan. That’s according to ABC News, which says the spooks believe he may have been trying to contact U.S.-born imam Anwar al Awlaki, who is based in Yemen and supports holy war against the West.

It’s not clear whether the U.S. military knew one of its officers was under intelligence surveillance, ABC said.

U.S. law enforcement and military investigators are also looking into associations between Hasan and the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, in early 2001, about the same time Awlaki and two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were there, the Los Angeles Times reported.  The mosque is one of the biggest in the United States and thousands of people go there for prayer services and other events.

Witnesses at Fort Hood told investigators that Hasan yelled “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is Greatest”  — before killing 13 people and wounding another 30 last week. The 39-year-old psychiatrist was shot four times by police and remains hospitalized.

It is unclear what motivated Hasan and the Army’s chief of staff, General George Casey, is afraid the shooting spree could cause a backlash against Muslims in the military.

But Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who is a hard-liner on security issues, sees the Fort Hood melee as a possible act of terrorism.

“We don’t know enough to say now. But there are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr. Hasan had become an Islamist extremist and, therefore, that this was a terrorist act,” Lieberman told Fox News over the weekend.

Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, wants the Pentagon to launch an independent probe of whether defense officials missed early signs of stress and statements that might have expressed Islamist sentiment.

Photo Credits: Reuters/Ho New (Hasan); Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi (Fort Hood); Reuters/Vivek Prakash (Lieberman)

A lot has happened since the 2000 presidential race, when two Senate Democrats headed their party’s ticket in a losing campaign for the White House.

Al Gore, the former vice president and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee, went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize, an Oscar and a Grammy after his documentary on climate change.

His running mate, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, left the Democratic party to become an independent, which put him in a position of power player in the Senate. And now he’s a pivotal force as the congressional healthcare debate inches toward resolution.

Lieberman says he’ll join Republicans and block a final vote on a healthcare reform bill if it includes the public option.

Despite their political split, Gore told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Tuesday that he and his former running mate are still pals.

Any regrets about the “turbo boost” you gave to Lieberman’s career by picking him as your running mate — given that he’s changed his political affiliation and his current stance on healthcare? Maddow asked .

“The short answer is ‘No.’ We were very close friends in the Senate. We’re still friends,” Gore responded before proceeding on to the long answer.

“He was right and forceful on many of the issues that I felt were central, including global warming. He was one of the leaders on that issue. Women’s rights. On a whole range of issues,” Gore said. “I disagree with him on a lot of the issues that have become more prominent since then,” he added.

“But I would urge people to wait until the denouement of this healthcare debate to see where it falls out because I do believe that (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid is going to be successful in passing it (healthcare reform) fairly soon.”

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Photo Credit:Reuters/Win McNamee (Gore, Lieberman on a call with party leaders Nov. 27, 2000)

WASHINGTON - Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, previously a Democrat now an independent, bucked his colleagues a lot this year including in what some considered the ultimate betrayal — backing the Republican presidential hopeful, John McCain, and for the less than kind words he had for Democrat Barack Obama.

But after Obama’s victory, Lieberman issued a statement congratulating him on his “historic and impressive” victory.

There have been some questions about whether Lieberman might no longer be welcome in the Democratic caucus, but Sen. Charles Schumer said last month that that issue would be dealt with after the election.

“Now that the election is over, it is time to put partisan considerations aside and come together as a nation to solve the difficult challenges we face and make our blessed land stronger and safer,” Lieberman said in the statement. ”I pledge to work with President-elect Obama and his incoming Administration in their efforts to reinvigorate our economy and keep our nation secure and free.”

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

- Photo credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder (McCain and Lieberman at a rally in Colorado.)

(Corrected to reflect statement in last two paragraphs was by Reid’s spokesman, not Reid.)

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joseph Lieberman on Tuesday skipped the weekly luncheon meeting of congressional Democrats — many of whom denounce him as a turncoat for his support of White House contender John McCain at last week’s Republican National Convention.

A number of lawmakers have even said Lieberman of Connecticut might be stripped of his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the new Congress next year if Democrats, as expected, increase their control of the Senate.

Lieberman, who refers to himself as an “independent Democrat”, has brushed off such talk. So has Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid — at least for now.

“His (Lieberman’s) approach is that he is going to do what he believes is right in support of John McCain, and let the politics play itself out,” said Marshall Wittmann, Lieberman’s communications director.

Lieberman, who eight years ago was the Democratic vice presidential nominee, could end up in McCain’s Republican administration if he defeats Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in November’s White House election.

At the Republican convention, Lieberman criticized Obama and praised McCain as “the best choice to bring the country together and lead America forward.”

With Congress returning this week from its August recess, Lieberman informed Reid’s office that he won’t be attending any more meetings this year of the Senate Democratic caucus because he assumes they will be largely focused on presidential politics, aides said.

Reid and Lieberman’s office denied a published report that Lieberman was being barred from the meetings.

“While it is no secret that the Democratic caucus is disappointed in Senator Lieberman’s attacks on Senator Obama, the irresponsible report that Senator Lieberman has been excluded from caucus meetings is completely untrue,” Reid’s spokesman Jim Manley said in a statement.

“Senator Lieberman has chosen not to attend Democratic caucus lunches, and that’s his choice,” Manley said.  With Lieberman generally allied with the Democrats, they hold a 51-49 majority over Republicans and control of the Senate.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

- Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Segar (Lieberman with McCain at the Republican National Convention)   

TEANECK, N.J. - Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Lieberman slammed Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday over the Russian invasion of Georgia and said that the Democrat still wasn’t experienced enough for the White House.
“We’ve got a real clear choice to make. And I say it respectfully to Sen. Obama because he’s a gifted young man. But he’s not ready to be president on Jan. 20th of 2009,” Lieberman, of Connecticut, told a fund raising event for Republican hopeful John McCain.

“As the Russians move into Georgia as aggressors, and if you read the statements from the beginning, from Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama, one had a kind of moral neutrality to it that comes I think from inexperience.

“The other’s — Sen. McCain’s — was strong and clear and principled and put America where America always want to be, on the side of freedom,” he said while introducing McCain.

Lieberman sits in Congress as an Independent after he lost the Connecticut Democratic primary election in 2006 but won actual re-election running as a third party candidate.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Lieberman applauds McCain)