An internal Pentagon review of offices under former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith is expected to be completed within the next few weeks, an official close to the investigation said.

Senate Democrats are awaiting the Defense Department’s report, which is being conducted by the Inspector General, to buttress their efforts to revive probes into the Bush administration’s use of pre-Iraq war intelligence. Some former U.S. officials have alleged that Feith’s Office of Special Plans oversold links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda in the run up to the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Democrats have also sought to examine allegations that members of Feith’s office had gone outside legal channels in conducting intelligence operations in Europe and Middle East. Lawrence Franklin, a Middle East expert who worked for Feith, pleaded guilty in 2005 to illegally provided intelligence to members of AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, as well as to an Israeli diplomat.

Feith resigned from the Pentagon in August 2005 and has denied his office engaged in any wrongdoing. He currently works at Georgetown University.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, under its new Democratic Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.), is seeking to complete a more than two-year-old investigation into the White House’s use of Iraq intelligence. A key section of the study concerns the Office of Special Plans. Rockefeller aides say their own study can’t be completed without the Pentagon’s input.

“When the report comes out, we’ll take a look,” said one Democrat close to the investigation. “If some issues aren’t addressed, we may push further.” –Jay Solomon