they confirm the manufacture of the weapons. >> reporter: ahmed chalabi's pronouncements and the information he fed to bush officials influenced the u.s. decision to invade. and the information was spectacularly bogus. now chalabi is being talked about as a serious contender to replace nuri al maliki as iraq's prime minister, the very idea brings back bad memories for some american observers. >> this is a crazy world. and i can't really believe this is a good leader for iraq. on every single issue, he was either dishonest, self-promoting, or, you know, vengeful towards his previous enemies. i just saw nothing good in the man. >> reporter: chalabi had american military and political leaders believing the iraq war would be a cakewalk. later he was accused of tipping the iranians off to american intelligence secrets and effectively banned from the u.s. embassy in baghdad. he denied the claims. before the war, chalabi was convicted and sentenced in a massive bank fraud case in jordan and escaped to london. the questions about chalabi's credibility are serious enough. but in this contorted politi

. >>> remember ahmed chalabi, the exile whose family fled iraq in the '60s where he founded a failedank and led the iraq national congress? which was created in 1992 for the express purpose of overthrowing iraqi dictator saddam hussein. between 1992 and 2004, the inc received more than $100 million from the u.s. government. they used some of that money to hire a d.c. lobbying firm to help sell the americans on invading iraq. in 2003, they finally succeeded, thanks in part to their relationships gained through a think tank called the project for the new american century. remember them? and that included the neo-conservatives who later wound up in the bush administration. chalabi also formed a relationship with vice president dick cheney. he was a key source of information for reporters, like judith miller, then of "the new york times". when an iraqi informant living in germany told the cia that saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction in trucks that could be moved around the country, the cia backed up that information with information from chalabi's informantds, including one wh

. >> how does the obama administration feel about ahmed chalabi possibly becoming the next leader? e house and state department says it's not the role of the u.s. to support any candidate. our efforts to the get chalabi to comment for the story were not successful. >> what are the chances here that chalabi might win? >> some argue he's got kind of a long shot here. he doesn't have much of a mass following and not much much a chance to win but he's a very savvy political operator. he's a moderate and his alliance with muqtada al sadr's is very important. that could give him momentum if they hold an election soon. >> and rear admiral john kirby, along winning jim sciutto, our chief national security correspondent. can we really trust chalabi? when you listen to everything laid out there in brian's piece? >> look, again it's not for the u.s. military to get involved in iraqi politics. these are decisions that the iraqi people have to make. our focus is on trying to make sure that the iraqi security forces are ready meet the theret. >> he's connected. he's known. he's moderate. he's sav