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WHITE HOUSE LEAK CONTROVERSY BUILDS
"The President and I place deterring, detecting, and punishing
unauthorized disclosures of U.S. national security secrets
among our highest priorities, at all times, but especially in
this time of war against terrorism of global reach," Attorney
General John Ashcroft wrote in an October 2002 report to
Congress.
fas.org
That unequivocal assertion is now being put to the test in the
face of renewed allegations that Bush Administration officials
improperly disclosed the identity of a CIA officer serving
under cover who happened to be the wife of an Administration
critic, Amb. Joseph Wilson.
Detecting and punishing the leaker didn't exactly sound like
one of the "highest priorities" of the White House at a rather
evasive press briefing on the subject on September 29.
"My understanding is that if something like this happened and
it was referred to the Department of Justice, then the
Department of Justice would look to see whether or not there
is enough information to pursue it further," said White House
spokesman Scott McClellan. "But those are questions you need
to ask the Department of Justice." See:
fas.org
The Justice Department has reportedly opened an investigation
into the matter.
Leaks, including intelligence-related leaks, are commonplace.
But identification of leakers, let alone prosecution or other
punishment, is rare.
"We file crimes reports with the attorney general every week
about leaks," said DCI George Tenet at his confirmation
hearing on May 6, 1997, "and we're never successful in
litigating one."
Although no one has ever been prosecuted for disclosing the
name of a CIA officer under cover, such disclosures happen
from time to time.
In 1998, an article in The New Republic named the CIA station
chief in Tel Aviv, to the dismay of Agency officials and
congressional overseers. See "CIA Station Chief in Israel
Unmasked," Secrecy and Government Bulletin, November 1998:
fas.org
The text of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982,
which prohibits the identification of "covert agents," is
available here:
fas.org |
