The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Feinstein ‘rumor’: Pakistan lost the files on Osama’s compound

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said on Tuesday that the Pakistani government may have lost the paperwork that would explain how a compound was bought and built in Abbotabad to house Osama bin Laden for over five years. Feinstein, the head of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is being more careful lately not to spill ...

By , a former staff writer at Foreign Policy.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said on Tuesday that the Pakistani government may have lost the paperwork that would explain how a compound was bought and built in Abbotabad to house Osama bin Laden for over five years.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said on Tuesday that the Pakistani government may have lost the paperwork that would explain how a compound was bought and built in Abbotabad to house Osama bin Laden for over five years.

Feinstein, the head of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is being more careful lately not to spill classified intelligence when talking in committee meetings or with reporters. But in a brief Tuesday interview with The Cable in the hallways of the Capitol building, she said she was very suspicious of "rumors" that Pakistan had misplaced the records regarding the bin Laden safe house.

Asked by The Cable if she had seen any evidence that senior Pakistani government officials had been involved in the hiding of bin Laden, Feinstein paused, thought for a moment, and then gave a very careful response.

"I don’t understand how somebody could buy the land for $48,000, get the building permits, get a contractor, build for a period of time what is essentially the largest home compound in the area, where somebody lives for five years, and nobody asks who’s there or finds out who’s there," she said.

Then she offered this fascinating tidbit:

"I understand it’s very difficult to go back and find the records, that they suddenly disappeared. That’s not a positive sign either," she said.

Pressed by The Cable on how she knew that the bin Laden files had been lost, she said, "That’s what the rumor is… I didn’t hear this from [the] intel [community]."

Feinstein also criticized Pakistan for reportedly arresting five CIA informants who helped set up the bin Laden raid, and said it was problematic that Pakistan seems to be warning militants that U.S. strikes are coming.

"According to the Army Times, at least four mutually agreed upon targets, the Pakistani side has alerted the target, and the target has cleared out," she said, again attributing the information to open sources. "Put together, those are not hopeful signs."

Josh Rogin is a former staff writer at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshrogin

Read More On Pakistan

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.