True Crime: A Real CIA Leak Investigation for a Change
Jim Kouri, CPP
November 14, 2005
Senate and House of Representatives Republican leaders called for an in-depth investigation into the identity of the person or persons responsible for leaking top secret material to a Washington Post reporter. The secret information about the CIA's use of secret prisons abroad to interrogate terrorist suspects ended up on the newspaper's frontpage and was quickly picked up by other news organizations.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R.-Ill., and Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., dispatched an official letter to the chairmen of both the Senate and House intelligence committees asking them to initiate a joint inquiry into who gave reporter Dana Priest classified information about the CIA operated prison system allegedly located in eight countries, including several democracies in Eastern Europe.
Once the story appeared on November 2, political leaders from both parties began to immediately leap to the conclusion that torture was occurring at these top secret locations, tripping over one another to get in front of the TV cameras and microphones. The Washington Post article did not detail anything that substantiated those conclusions of torture at detention facilities.
The Hastert/Frist letter stated that the unlawful leak "could have long-term and far-reaching, damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks."
The CIA official are also interested in finding out who leaked the secret prison information to Priest. As per protocol, the CIA filed an official report with the US Department of Justice. The report alleges that classified information may have been released through the Post article in an unauthorized way.
Instead of echoing the GOP leaders' call for an investigation into the leak, the Democrats called for Republicans to start a congressional investigation into the alleged manipulation of intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. The Democrat leaders continue to call for more and more investigations into the same matters hoping to uncover a "smoking gun" to use against the Bush Administration. They also demanded to know how White House officials allegedly released CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity to the media in retaliation for her husband's criticism of the war. With a special prosecutor unable to garner indictments for the alleged crime after two years, Democrats want another bite of the apple in order to keep the story alive with their willing accomplices in the news media.
Last week, Major General Paul Vallely, USA (Ret.), who lost a son during the Iraq invasion, told reporters that Ambassador Joe Wilson bragged to him about having a wife in the CIA. Yet, the Democrats still hope to ride Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame back to power in the Senate and House next year. With the help of a news media willing to ignore the facts about Wilson and Plame and hype the seriousness of the Plame-CIA leak, pundits believe the whole affair will assist the Democrats.
Senator Trent Lott, R-Miss., told CNN that he believes the leak regarding secret CIA detention facilities came from Republican senators themselves. He said that some of the information in Priest's Washington Post article was one of the topics of discussion at a meeting the Republican Senators had with Vice President Dick Cheney the day before the story appeared on the frontpage of the Post.
While the leak investigation is expected to be wide ranging, Priest claims she got the information from present and former intelligence officials, but did not name even those no longer working within the intelligence community. One intelligence source told this writer that he believes part of the leak came from Senator John McCain who was upset over Cheney's opposition to publishing protocols for interrogation of enemy combatants and terrorists. McCain is quite vocal about the issue of torture.
Frist and Hastert suggested that the intelligence committees move "expeditiously" to complete their investigation. The last such inquiry occurred during the joint investigation into the intelligence failures prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
It's believed that Central Intelligence Agency officials, as well as the newly appointed National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte, are conducting their own in-house investigation into the Washington Post leak. Such an investigation may result in a referral sent to the US Justice Department in order to conduct a criminal investigation.
One Washington insider said that he doubted a special prosecutor would be appointed in this case, since the Democrats and the mainstream news media will undoubtedly characterize it as a diversion from the Plame-CIA leak investigation. That investigation resulted in Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice charges, despite no indictments handed down for the crime for which the special prosecutor was appointed to investigate in the first place.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R.-Ill., and Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., dispatched an official letter to the chairmen of both the Senate and House intelligence committees asking them to initiate a joint inquiry into who gave reporter Dana Priest classified information about the CIA operated prison system allegedly located in eight countries, including several democracies in Eastern Europe.
Once the story appeared on November 2, political leaders from both parties began to immediately leap to the conclusion that torture was occurring at these top secret locations, tripping over one another to get in front of the TV cameras and microphones. The Washington Post article did not detail anything that substantiated those conclusions of torture at detention facilities.
The Hastert/Frist letter stated that the unlawful leak "could have long-term and far-reaching, damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks."
The CIA official are also interested in finding out who leaked the secret prison information to Priest. As per protocol, the CIA filed an official report with the US Department of Justice. The report alleges that classified information may have been released through the Post article in an unauthorized way.
Instead of echoing the GOP leaders' call for an investigation into the leak, the Democrats called for Republicans to start a congressional investigation into the alleged manipulation of intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. The Democrat leaders continue to call for more and more investigations into the same matters hoping to uncover a "smoking gun" to use against the Bush Administration. They also demanded to know how White House officials allegedly released CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity to the media in retaliation for her husband's criticism of the war. With a special prosecutor unable to garner indictments for the alleged crime after two years, Democrats want another bite of the apple in order to keep the story alive with their willing accomplices in the news media.
Last week, Major General Paul Vallely, USA (Ret.), who lost a son during the Iraq invasion, told reporters that Ambassador Joe Wilson bragged to him about having a wife in the CIA. Yet, the Democrats still hope to ride Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame back to power in the Senate and House next year. With the help of a news media willing to ignore the facts about Wilson and Plame and hype the seriousness of the Plame-CIA leak, pundits believe the whole affair will assist the Democrats.
Senator Trent Lott, R-Miss., told CNN that he believes the leak regarding secret CIA detention facilities came from Republican senators themselves. He said that some of the information in Priest's Washington Post article was one of the topics of discussion at a meeting the Republican Senators had with Vice President Dick Cheney the day before the story appeared on the frontpage of the Post.
While the leak investigation is expected to be wide ranging, Priest claims she got the information from present and former intelligence officials, but did not name even those no longer working within the intelligence community. One intelligence source told this writer that he believes part of the leak came from Senator John McCain who was upset over Cheney's opposition to publishing protocols for interrogation of enemy combatants and terrorists. McCain is quite vocal about the issue of torture.
Frist and Hastert suggested that the intelligence committees move "expeditiously" to complete their investigation. The last such inquiry occurred during the joint investigation into the intelligence failures prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
It's believed that Central Intelligence Agency officials, as well as the newly appointed National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte, are conducting their own in-house investigation into the Washington Post leak. Such an investigation may result in a referral sent to the US Justice Department in order to conduct a criminal investigation.
One Washington insider said that he doubted a special prosecutor would be appointed in this case, since the Democrats and the mainstream news media will undoubtedly characterize it as a diversion from the Plame-CIA leak investigation. That investigation resulted in Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice charges, despite no indictments handed down for the crime for which the special prosecutor was appointed to investigate in the first place.
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