News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMinecabal-elitew-administrationcia-identity-leak — Viewing Item


Cia probe widens

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/01leak.html;COXnetJSessionID=1EdMYEnKPCJ581sc2RGIuanqPQmN9nLmQRWl6TSOJqEMtZlhohua!-1772932071?urac=n&urvf=10656391806680.19939595310823532

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/01leak.html;COXnetJSessionID=1EdMYEnKPCJ581sc2RGIuanqPQmN9nLmQRWl6TSOJqEMtZlhohua!-1772932071?urac=n&urvf=10656391806680.19939595310823532

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/1/03 ]

Probe in leak of CIA widens

By BOB DEANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department announced a full-scale criminal investigation Tuesday into allegations that White House officials deliberately exposed the identity of an undercover CIA agent after her husband publicly criticized President Bush's policy toward Iraq.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, working with the FBI, opened the investigation Friday at the request of the CIA.

Bush said he had no knowledge of the disclosure of the agent's identity to selected members of the media, and the president ordered his staff to cooperate with the investigation.

"I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information,'' Bush told reporters traveling with him in Chicago. "If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of."

Bush defended Ashcroft's decision to investigate the matter through the Justice Department instead of appointing an independent special counsel, as Democrats have urged.

"I'm absolutely confident that the Justice Department will do a very good job," Bush said.

Democrats, however, stepped up their calls for an independent investigation.

"We don't have confidence in John Ashcroft,'' Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said. "There is always going to be a cloud hanging over whether or not this Justice Department, run by John Ashcroft, will ever have the objectivity and the independence to do the kind of investigation required."

In a prepared statement, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said, "The failure to name special counsel taints this investigation from the outset.''

Bush appeals to media

Bush directed White House staff members to provide the Justice Department with any information relating to the investigation. He also appealed to others outside his administration, gesturing toward reporters at one point, to do the same.

"If anybody has got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true and get on about the business,'' Bush said.

At issue are allegations, published in The Washington Post over the weekend, that at least two senior White House officials revealed to selected journalists in July that former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife was a covert CIA operative.

The revelations came after Wilson wrote an editorial criticizing Bush's claims that Iraq had sought nuclear weapons fuel in Niger. Wilson had traveled there in 2002 to investigate the claims.

Disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA agent is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Such disclosures could endanger the operative and the operative's contacts, undercut U.S. intelligence gathering and scuttle the operative's career.

Leak given to Novak

The CIA is required by law to seek a Justice Department inquiry into allegations of such a breach of security.

For the department to launch a full investigation, the CIA must first demonstrate sufficient reasons for an inquiry, including details on the CIA employee who has been compromised and the nature of the security breach.

That process began in earnest last week, Ashcroft said, 2 1/2 months after conservative columnist Robert Novak first published the leak, naming Wilson's wife. Novak said he based his report on information from two senior Bush administration officials.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales was notified of the investigation at 8:30 p.m. Monday. Gonzales, in turn, discussed the matter with Bush early Tuesday. Gonzales then sent a memo to White House staffers directing them not to destroy materials that might be relevant.

After receiving a Justice Department letter detailing the scope of its inquiry, Gonzales sent out a second memo at day's end, directing White House staff to retain e-mails, telephone records, computer discs, notes and diary entries relating to:

• Wilson or his wife's "purported relationship" with the CIA.

• Wilson's 2002 travels, on behalf of the CIA, to Niger.

• Contacts with syndicated columnist Robert Novak of the Chicago Sun-Times and reporter Knut Royce and bureau chief Timothy Phelps, both of Newsday, a Long Island newspaper.

"You must preserve all documents relating, in any way, directly or indirectly, to these subjects," Gonzales wrote, "even if there would be a question whether the document would be a presidential or federal record or even if its destruction might otherwise be permitted."

Democrats pounced on the overnight lapse between when Gonzales was notified of the investigation and when staffers were directed to retain relevant materials.

"Every good prosecutor knows that any delay could give a culprit time to destroy the evidence," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. "If there were a special counsel, it is extremely doubtful that the White House would have been allowed to delay the request to preserve documents and other evidence."

McClellan dismissed the notion that staffers would have had time to destroy materials. "That's just a silly suggestion,'' he said.

Gonzales asked the Justice Department whether a memo should go out immediately Monday night, McClellan said.

"They were prepared to do so,'' McClellan said. "The Justice Department said this morning would be fine."

Lapse not explained

Ashcroft offered no explanation for the lapse between Friday, when he said the investigation began, and Monday night, when he said he notified Gonzales. Ashcroft also said no special counsel is needed.

"The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation are career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters involving sensitive national security information and with experience relating to investigations of unauthorized disclosures of such information,'' Ashcroft said.

In addition to working directly for Bush, Ashcroft has a professional relationship, going back to 1985, with Karl Rove, Bush's political counselor.

Wilson, who had earlier suggested that Rove was the source of the leak, partly backed off that charge Monday, saying people in whom he has confidence have "indicated to me" that Rove "at a minimum condoned it and certainly did nothing to put a stop to it for a week after it was out there."

McClellan has denied allegations that Rove played a role in identifying the agent, calling the suggestion "ridiculous.''

The CIA sent Wilson to Niger in 2002 to check out allegations that Iraq had sought uranium, a potential raw material in a nuclear bomb, from Niger, which had supplied Iraq with large quantities of uranium in the past.

Wilson reported to the CIA that he could not substantiate charges of recent attempts by Iraq to acquire the uranium. CIA Director George Tenet conveyed those reservations to the White House last fall.

Several months later -- in his January State of the Union address weeks before ordering war against Iraq -- Bush repeated the assertions about the uranium, citing British intelligence sources.

After Wilson took issue publicly with the way Bush had used the intelligence to build support for the war, several news organizations reported that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative -- implying that she had played a role in his assignment to Niger -- and undercutting Wilson's credibility on the matter, punishing him for criticizing the president, or both.



Administration blows cover of whistleblower { August 8 2003 }
Agee calls leak dirty politics
Agee discusses leak of name
Agee sees whitehouse getting blowback
Another time reported testomy may help rove { December 12 2005 }
Appeals court upheld ruling against reporters over leak { February 15 2005 }
Ashcroft recused self from investigation { December 31 2003 }
Buchanan comments on mclaughlin july 15 05 { July 15 2005 }
Bush admits cia leak came from whitehouse { July 12 2007 }
Bush aide testifies leak probe { February 9 2004 }
Bush and lawyer huddle on CIA leak { June 2 2004 }
Bush commuted libby prison sentence { June 2007 }
Bush defends declassification of prewar report
Bush jokes to reporter about cia leak
Bush knew of pending cia leak
Bush toughens support of leak investigation { October 7 2003 }
Cheney advisor resigns after indictment
Cheney aide also linked to cia leak { July 18 2005 }
Cheney aide says bush approved leak { April 6 2006 }
Cheney and rove lose importance in whitehouse
Cheney may use executive privilege { October 29 2005 }
Cheney reportedly interviewed in leak of CIA name { June 5 2004 }
Cheney source of officer name to libby { October 25 2005 }
Cheney staff focus of probe { February 17 2004 }
Cheney to be defense witness in cia leak case
Cia blocks varerie plame book
Cia name leak from whitehouse { September 30 2003 }
Cia probe widens
Colleague says armitage was cia leak source { August 29 2006 }
Did rove blow spooks cover { September 16 2003 }
Doj investigation whitehouse reveal cia agent
Fitzgerald calls new grand jury after woodward testimony { November 19 2005 }
Judith freed to testify about source lewis libby { September 30 2005 }
Judith miller cant remember where name came from { October 16 2005 }
Judith miller retires from the times
Karl rove testifies before federal grand jury on leak
Last day of probe keeping whitehouse jittery
Leaders express outrage for libby commuted sentence { July 3 2007 }
Leaker said wilson wife fair game { September 28 2003 }
Libby charges dont address cia leak
Libby lawyer told miller to clear scooter libby { October 16 2005 }
Libby may have hidden cheney role { November 13 2005 }
Libby perjury worse than lewinsky perjury
Libby retains 5th amendment by avoiding pardon { July 3 2007 }
Libby says white house superiors approved leak { February 9 2006 }
Libby scapegoated to protect karl rove { January 24 2007 }
Libby trial delayed right after 2006 elections { February 4 2006 }
Matthew cooper testify after rove lawyers maneuvering { July 7 2005 }
Mcclellan cant clear cheney in cia leak case { June 20 2008 }
Memo central to leak delivered to powell { July 21 2005 }
Nbc russert rebuts libby testimony { February 7 2007 }
New tork times reporter jailed for concealing leak { July 7 2005 }
New york times reporter given top security clearance { October 16 2005 }
Novak claims book was source of leak { August 2 2005 }
Novak points to cia { October 1 2003 }
Novak pokes fun at cia leak
Novak wont give up source { October 1 2003 }
Pat buchanan says neocons behind whole thing { July 15 2005 }
Powell gives testimony to grand jury
Press secretary says bush behind leak { October 2007 }
Prison fines await those leak cia identities
Probe exposing cia identity { September 29 2003 }
Prosecutor investigating coverup of leak { July 27 2005 }
Prosecutors question Bush on CIA name leak { June 25 2004 }
Reporter held in contempt
Rove and libby worked damage control { July 22 2005 }
Rove blamed libby to jury { October 20 2005 }
Rove called to testify 5th time { April 27 2006 }
Rove confirmed plame indirectly lawyer says { July 15 2005 }
Rove emailed security official about matthew cooper { July 11 2003 }
Rove fight escalates { July 15 2005 }
Rove legal team furious efforts to convince prosecutor { October 27 2005 }
Rove mclellan interviewed cia probe { October 23 2003 }
Rove told cooper wilsons wife works for agency { July 11 2005 }
Rove wont face indictment in cia leak case { June 13 2006 }
Story from two senior whitehouse employees
Time magazine talked to rove for plane story
Time reporters in contempt of court for cia leak
Time reporters says he first learned of plame from rove { July 18 2005 }
Valerie plame does vanity fair spread { December 3 2003 }
Whitehouse press secretary contradicts libby { December 2007 }
Wilson suggested rove leaked { September 30 2003 }
Woodward attacked by liberals { November 18 2005 }
Woodward eyed after calling fitzgerald overzealous { November 17 2005 }
Woodward was told of plame before leak { November 16 2005 }

Files Listed: 85



Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security
Archives
Support one-state solution for Israel and Palestine Tea Party bumper stickers JFK for Dummies, The Assassination made simple