Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Counterterrorism officials detected communications between a radical Muslim religious leader in Yemen and Major Nidal Malik Hasan before the Nov. 5 shootings at a Texas Army base that left 13 dead, a U.S. official said.

Hasan is the suspect in the attack, in which 30 people were wounded.

The U.S. official said today Hasan’s communications were with Anwar al Awlaki, who news reports said was the imam at a Falls Church, Virginia, mosque when Hasan and his relatives worshipped there. U.S. authorities, who intercepted the communications before the attack at Fort Hood, determined the messages didn’t pose a threat and no formal investigation was opened, said the official, who requested anonymity.

Lawmakers are asking if authorities missed signs that Hasan, 39, was dangerous. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Senate homeland security committee, said today the panel could hold a hearing as early as next week on what motivated Hasan.

“We have not received any definitive information at this point, so it’s impossible to assess whether this was a lone wolf who self-radicalized or whether he was radicalized through contacts with other Islamists,” she told reporters in Washington.

Military Record

At a Washington briefing tonight, investigative officials said that Hasan communicated with an individual overseas before the rampage. They declined to name the person. The communications began last year and continued into this year, the officials said.

U.S. intelligence agencies discovered the Hasan communications in an unrelated probe and Hasan himself wasn’t under investigation, the officials said. The communications prompted a review of Hasan’s military record, which turned up no indication he was a danger, the officials said.

U.S. intelligence officials determined that Hasan’s communications were consistent with research he was conducting, the officials said. He was an Army psychiatrist.

The authorities have no evidence Hasan was directed or had co-conspirators in the attack, the officials said at tonight’s briefing.

Hasan is in critical though stable condition, recovering from gunshot wounds he sustained in the Fort Hood attack, said Maria Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Army are investigating the shootings.

Hoekstra Request

Representative Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, in a Nov. 7 letter asked the heads of the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies to preserve all information related to the shootings.

“I have been made aware of information from the intelligence community that suggests the possibility that serious issues exist with respect to the performance of U.S. intelligence agencies,” Hoekstra wrote.

In the letter, Hoekstra said he was “troubled” he hadn’t been provided specific information on the case he had asked for.

Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said it is premature to criticize the government’s actions. “I am disappointed that some have rushed to the news media with unfounded information in order to gain headlines,” Reyes, a Texas Democrat, said in a statement.

‘A Hero’

Earlier today, the New York Times reported the communications Hasan had with al Awlaki, who is known for his anti-American views. A Web posting purportedly from al Awlaki praised the shooting at Fort Hood.

Calling Hasan “a hero,” the posting said, “Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done?”

A U.S. official said authorities are investigating ties between Hasan and al Awlaki, who was an imam at Dar Al Hijarah Islamic Center, the mosque in Virginia. Al Awlaki no longer is at the mosque.

The investigative officials also said Hasan is expected to be charged in military proceedings.

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net; Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 21:32 EST