FORT HOOD, Texas -- The Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people in a shooting spree at Fort Hood made or accepted wire transfers with Pakistan, a nation used by Muslim extremists as a base from which to raise funds and plan terrorist attacks, a Republican congressman said Friday.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the ranking Republican member of the House Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee, said in a statement that he confirmed through "independent sources" that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan also had communications with Pakistan.

"This Pakistan connection just raises more red flags about this case and demonstrates why it's important for Congress to exercise its oversight authority," McCaul, who is a representative of Texas, said in a statement.

McCaul did not respond Friday to a request for an interview. His spokesman, Mike Rosen, said he did not know the direction of the transfers and communications, only that they passed between Hasan and Pakistan.