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Top Democratic Lawmakers Call for GAO Investigation Regarding Leak of CIA Operative’s Identity By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — Top Democratic lawmakers earlier this week sought to open another official inquiry into the leak of the identity of a CIA operative, requesting that the U.S. General Accounting Office become involved in the matter (see GSN, Jan. 23). The U.S. Justice Department is currently investigating the leak of the identity of the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Last summer, Wilson publicly criticized evidence offered by the Bush administration to justify going to war with Iraq on the grounds that Iraq was seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction. Soon after Wilson aired his criticism, though, his wife’s identity and CIA status were made public in a column by Robert Novak. Wilson has alleged that the leak of his wife’s identity was meant as an intimidation tactic by the Bush administration to prevent further criticism of its handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq (see GSN, Oct. 6, 2003) In a letter sent to the GAO Monday, six top Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), asked the office to investigate whether the White House complied with administrative requirements to protect information about Wilson’s wife’s “covert identity” prior to the leak, as well as whether the White House complied with requirements to ensure that leak was investigated after it had occurred. “Serious doubts have been raised about whether the White House complied with these basic administrative procedures in protecting [Wilson’s wife’s] … identity and responding to the leak. We believe a GAO investigation of these issues is essential to restoring public confidence in the integrity of the White House,” the letter says. On the Senate floor yesterday, Daschle warned that the unresolved leak of Wilson’s wife’s identity has helped to create a “cloud of uncertainty” over the U.S. intelligence community. “No American, Democrat or Republican, can afford to allow this affair to be swept under the rug,” he said, as reported in the Congressional Record. “Intelligence agents report growing fear that the community is increasingly viewed as a political tool rather than as an instrument of independent and objective discovery and analysis,” Daschle added. A GAO official yesterday declined to comment on the Democrats’ request, but said that most requests for investigations are responded to within 10 days. The White House yesterday did not return calls for comment. Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, said yesterday in a written response to Global Security Newswire that it was uncertain whether the GAO would agree to the Democrats’ request. He said that the office could choose not to on the basis that the request was only made by Democrats, or because the leak is already the subject of a criminal investigation. In their letter to the GAO, though, the Democratic lawmakers sought to differentiate their request for an investigation from the Justice Department’s efforts. “We are not asking GAO to assess whether any criminal statues have been violated,” they wrote. The Democrats’ call for a GAO investigation follows close on the heels of an attempt by House Democrats to obtain a congressional inquiry into the leak. Last week, Representative Rush Holt (D-N.J.) introduced a resolution of inquiry, which would request the president and other Cabinet officials to provide all documents related to the leak, such as telephone and e-mail records, to the House of Representatives. Such a resolution, Holt said last week, was the “best tool at the disposal of the House” to determine how the leak occurred and who was responsible. The House Select Committee on Intelligence today, though, voted to adversely report the resolution. It still faces consideration by the House Armed Services, International Relations and Judiciary Committees. In a press statement today, Holt criticized the House intelligence panel for voting against the resolution. “A majority of the House Intelligence Committee failed to stand up for the men and women in the intelligence community who put their lives at risk to keep our nation safe,” he said. “I am severely disappointed at the lack of bipartisan cooperation on a matter so fundamental to the national security of this country. I am hopeful that members of the Judiciary, International Relations, and Armed Services committees will stand up where too many Intelligence members did not,” Holt added. Daschle yesterday noted the need for an expanded inquiry into the leak of Wilson’s wife’s identity. “We think that at three levels — the Justice Department, the congressional level and of course the General Accounting Office — all three levels ought to be engaged with regard to ascertaining the facts and making some final judgment,” he said. According to Aftergood, though, the Democrats’ continued attempts to expand the leak investigation indicates an increasing interest of the issue’s potential value as a political tactic against the White House. “Clearly the issue has risen to the highest ranks of the Democratic leadership. They have evidently decided that this is a weak spot for the administration,” he said.
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