Search: All News & Blogs Yahoo! News Only News Photos Video/Audio
Advanced
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice Dept. Probing Domestic Spying Leak
By TONI LOCY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has opened another investigation into
leaks of classified information, this time to determine who divulged the
existence of President Bush's secret domestic spying program.
The inquiry focuses on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless
surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, officials said.
The newspaper recently revealed the existence of the program in a front-page
story that also acknowledged that the news had been withheld from
publication for a year, partly at the request of the administration and
partly because the newspaper wanted more time to confirm various aspects of
the program.
White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Justice undertook the action on its
own, and Bush was informed of it Friday.
"The leaking of classified information is a serious issue. The fact is that
al-Qaida's playbook is not printed on Page One and when America's is, it has
serious ramifications," Duffy told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where Bush
was spending the holidays.
Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for the Times, declined to comment.
Disclosure of the secret spying program two weeks ago unleashed a firestorm
of criticism of the administration. Some critics accused the president of
breaking the law by authorizing intercepts of conversations - without prior
court approval or oversight - of people inside the United States and abroad
who had suspected ties to al-Qaida or its affiliates.
Bush, who publicly acknowledged the program's existence and described how it
operates, has argued that the initiative is legal in a time of war.
The inquiry launched Friday is only the most recent effort by the Bush
administration to determine who is disclosing information to journalists.
Two years ago, a special counsel was named to investigate who inside the
White House gave reporters the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, an
effort that led to perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Vice
President
***** Cheney's top aide, Lewis I. "Scooter" Libby.
More recently, the Justice Department has begun examining whether classified
information was illegally disclosed to The Washington Post about a network
of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.
The NSA leak probe was launched after the Justice Department received a
request from the spy agency.
It is unclear whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will recuse himself
from the inquiry. He was White House counsel when Bush signed the executive
order authorizing the NSA, which is normally confined to overseas
operations, to spy on conversations taking place on American soil.
For the past two weeks, Gonzales also has been one of the administration's
point men in arguing that the president has the constitutional authority to
conduct the spying.
"It's pretty stunning that, rather than focus on whether the president broke
his oath of office and broke federal law, they are going after the
whistleblowers," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union. Romero said a special prosecutor from
outside the Justice Department needs to be appointed. "This confirms many of
the fears about Gonzales' appointment - that he would not be sufficiently
independent from the president and that he would play the role of a crony,"
he said.
Duke University law professor Scott Silliman agreed that the Justice
Department is taking the wrong approach.
"Somebody in the government has enough concern about this program that they
are talking to reporters," Silliman said. "I don't think that is something
the Justice Department should try to prosecute."
Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor, said the Justice probe
is the next logical step because the NSA is alleging a violation of a law
that prohibits disclosure of classified information.
"The Department of Justice has the general obligation to investigate
suspected violations of the law," Kmiec said. "It would be extraordinary for
the department not to take up this matter."
The NSA probe likely will result in a repeat of last summer's events in
Washington, where reporters were subpoenaed to testify about who in the
administration told them about Plame's work at the CIA. New York Times
reporter Judith Miller spent 85 days in jail for refusing to reveal her
sources.
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of
the Press, said the Plame investigation was about "political gamesmanship."
But, she said, the NSA leak probe is frightening.
"In this case, there is no question that the public needed to know what the
New York Times reported," she said. "It's much more of a classic
whistleblower situation. The public needs to know when the government is
engaged in things that may well be unconstitutional."
The surveillance program bypassed a nearly 30-year-old secret court
established to oversee highly sensitive investigations involving espionage
and terrorism.
Administration officials insisted that Bush has the power to conduct
warrantless surveillance under the Constitution's war powers provision. They
argued that Congress also gave Bush the power when it authorized the use of
military force against terrorists in a resolution adopted within days of the
Sept. 11 attacks.
begin 666 ap_small.gif
M1TE&.#EA> `4`-4``)B6EWMX>?3S]&EG9^*-<>JLECDU-MUW5?32QN^]K-74
MU,S+R]!"$RDE)MS<W.OJZOCX^,TW!N7DY+NZNZVKK*2CH]15*DA$1<3#Q%I7
M6/WU\^:;@K6TM/'%MHV+C/OLYX2!@OW\_/CDW4 \/=9=-(^-C=),("\K+%!-
M37!M;OO[^V%>7]C8V*^NKF5B8J>EIC0P,?[[^J&?H(F&A^#?X).1D;^^OE)/
M4)V;FZJHJ='0T'5R<W]]?B,?(,PT`?___R'Y! ``````+ ````!X`!0```;_
MP)]P2/P1?(QDI\AL.I_0J'1*K0X1$9_6M[1ZO^"P6$/::KOBM'H=/IJYA8-\
M3M@@V/B\NI,U1Q(6;UL1!'J&AU((#()_@8);A8B2DR%EC("/9@E%-A4.> (E
M%& J% M#"A4O%2T">@5^?8U;!P4%)F8;1 \&/3MX$CT93 X9.% ")SQ#)3W.
M/1<T>"*X6B8'@YA:NC\BBUJ10BW.!@]"#RT4TC\T.2V?/P\<%3I#.A0V$ (X
M'/$<% I^4.BQPM6"%_E^A,# 08(R9CU>L,#1`P0-!RQ.Z7B!0<4/"!,J=/PA
MP,:+!2&(A,"V)0$L+;.V"?$&B8B+$0%ZM/B!`88!_P,-%BB ,0)&#QLLC)[H
M4>)'C1X-A+$X,8"&@1,C&M2XX4P&B!Y+7:CP`'5$18CU@J5 `:/!``\-EJZ@
M,>#$A1X#'MS VF,&D0UF+" `#%.;CPTB#/LH,"38# 4]7/S(64(!CP5D`?*P
M,:#'!!4K>E2 X0("CA$M&KA8L)I%@Q0+>@3 T'>?;-4"9IP5TBS#CKLXN.)X
MFD+ 4Q<G7-"H`&#<"A8`C@EY.>A:-D<^"%C:8D+$$(HI`,1]@,&L:@D+S*\>
M,0+"#XHK&E1H3%#"#O:^=%1\`>W"A;8]Y$!2`\OP!DT&Q@AP@0$_`-##"/Z]
MEH(S(U0@009173#!3-68P?\`2S[$E-UV(=YQ#E PI-B## KD@$$)#=R 00LV
MS'!"!C<T(,U7`330E X!3."6;A@(,$(*^H' @6@/+$!!3C7\`!D($)TBA KL
M_5!!7TU60 $'$U" 80LM3)##!2<(X<8;'UX'R781,#;$0"FHH (+D74F@PTG
MK+!#`QS8`$,*QU5P@@$LC&! #B@T@(%;/!P%GGXW<& 7!Q-RL& %*.SV0S-6
M?I2E:R-PT-D`#>S 0@#*])""`BNDR<<6#)A@*PD@BDC `2980(")0\B @@U"
MA! `; /\M(($$JS@4P8L0 #""#<&A &:I0JP0@TLH&! "COP\$ `BV* `E;'
M7 N.`P@#S">$F/#\H$(`.WBT0 9$`0`!`#^-( ,$,Q1U`0<?8.?#)AIH\ -U
M(NJB00Q-I%2$Q ((('$(%4O\D<5#J"" 1T1XG)+$*J3DL7M"Z/,%QBAOW+(^
M'A$001*$% %+!#@;QLTD/!OR0<()0TS$!P@4C4#!6^S<\]),#Z%!ATHW+?4D
,&E@P\V%39^U%$ `[
`
end
.
|
