Democrats seek new probe into leak
By Bryan Bender and Wayne Washington, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff,
9/30/2003
boston.com
WASHINGTON -- Democratic leaders demanded yesterday an independent investigation to
determine whether senior White House officials illegally leaked the identity of an undercover CIA
agent to exact revenge on her husband, one of the most vocal critics of the Bush administration's
policy on Iraq.
Led by Senate minority leader Tom
Daschle of South Dakota, scores of
lawmakers and presidential candidates
called for an independent inquiry -- the
first since the independent counsel law
expired in 1999. They argued that the
review now being conduc ted by the
FBI could not be objective in a Justice
Department led by Attorney General
John D. Ashcroft, a Bush appointee.
"We do not believe that this
investigation of senior Bush
administration officials, possibly
including high-level White House staff,
can be conducted by the Justice
Department because of the obvious
and inherent conflicts of interests
involved," Daschle wrote in a letter to
President Bush and Ashcroft cosigned by three Democratic senators. "Therefore, we strongly urge
the immediate appointment of a special counsel to investigate this matter."
The White House rejected the calls, saying that the Justice Department is the "appropriate
agency" to conduct the inquiry and that the president's staff would fully cooperate.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Scott McClellan denied that the president's top political
adviser, Karl Rove, was involved in disclosing the information, which reportedly was relayed to at
least six journalists. McClellan said Rove, who controls the White House's political operation, was
not to blame. "I've made it very clear that he was not involved, that there's no truth to the
suggestion that he was," McClellan said.
But former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, whose wife's identify was first disclosed in a July 14
article by syndicated columnist Robert Novak, told the Globe in an interview yesterday that "I have
full confidence that [Rove], at a minimum, condoned it and did nothing to stop it." Wilson said at
least one reporter told him that Rove said after the Novak column was published that Wilson's wife
was "fair game."
A Justice Department official said a preliminary investigation is underway. "That's to determine
whether there needs to be a full-blown investigation," said the official, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Publicly revealing the identify of an undercover intelligence official is a violation of federal law,
punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Exposing secret agents is considered a breach of national
security because it could endanger not only them, but also their sources.
CIA Director George Tenet requested the investigation, officials said, after the agency completed
an internal review of the potential consequences of identifying Wilson's wife, who sources said
works in the CIA's operations directorate gathering intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say whether the review concluded
that sources were jeopardized.
Wilson had been sent by the CIA to investigate a claim by British officials that Iraq had tried to
buy uranium from Niger. A former acting ambassador to Iraq, Wilson said he found no evidence
supporting the charge. Later, after it was repeated in Bush's State of the Union address, Wilson
came forward to dispute it -- and then continued criticizing the White House's case for the invasion
of Iraq. Wilson said yesterday that he did not know the motive for leaking his wife's identity. But
he said he could only surmise that it was to silence him or prevent others from speaking out
against the administration's Iraq policy. "It appears to have just been for pure revenge," Wilson
said. "That is reprehensible."
Novak, speaking on CNN, where he is a cohost, said yesterday: "Nobody in the Bush
administration called me to leak this. In July, I was interviewing a senior administration official on
Ambassador Wilson's report when he told me the trip was inspired by his wife, a CIA employee
working on weapons of mass destruction. Another senior official told me the same thing. As a
professional journalist with 46 years' experience in Washington, I do not reveal confidential
sources."
Democrats were quick to criticize the administration.
If true, the leak would constitute "one of the most dastardly, despicable things I have seen in my
more than 20 years in Washington," said Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York. It
"speaks lengths about how far someone will go to stifle dissent."
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, joined those calling for an independent
investigation, saying, "How can anyone possibly trust this administration to investigate and
prosecute itself for this shameful incident?"
On the campaign trail, Senators Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, John F. Kerry of
Massachusetts, and Bob Graham of Florida, all Democratic presidential candidates, called for an
independent probe, as did former Vermont governor Howard Dean.
"The administration should not play politics with this matter," said retired Army General Wesley
K. Clark, another presidential contender. "This issue is too important for political gamesmanship
or to be managed by the John Ashcroft Justice Department."
Republicans were more muted.
"If that happened, that is a very wrong thing to happen," Senator John McCain, Republican of
Arizona, said of the leak. Since the nation no longer has an independent counsel law, which
called for a panel of judges to appoint a special prosecutor in cases where it was warranted, a
special counsel is the next best option, officials said. According to federal law, the attorney
general can appoint a special counsel when there is a possible conflict of interest, extraordinary
circumstances, or it is deemed to be in the public interest. Susan Milligan of the Globe staff also
contributed to this story.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
E-MAIL TO A FRIEND |
