Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial: Given the failure of the Justice Department to produce results in its investigation -- not even a grand jury subpoena so far -- we now recommend that an independent counsel be appointed, and that the Justice Department be required to turn over any information that has been found so far.
Protect Whistleblowers from Bush Cabal Retribution,
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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03346/250311.stm
Editorial: Plame's leaker / Lack of progress calls for an independent counsel
Friday, December 12, 2003
There is no indication that the Justice Department has
made any progress in determining which Bush
administration official blew the cover of CIA
operative Valerie Plame five months ago.
This, in spite of President Bush's assignment of the
task to senior professionals at the department in
September, although he added publicly Oct. 7 that he
didn't know if the employee would be found out.
What someone in the administration is alleged to have
done is a federal crime, a violation of the
Intelligence Identities Protection Act, punishable by
up to 10 years in prison. The law, passed during the
administration of President Reagan, is intended to
protect the identities and lives of covert agents such
as Ms. Plame as they carry out espionage on behalf of
the United States overseas.
The leak was seen as revenge against Ms. Plame for a
revelation made by her husband, retired U.S.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson. He stated that the
administration had been told, after an investigation
he had carried out in Africa, that intelligence
stating that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger
was false.
Mr. Bush had nonetheless used the false information in
his 2003 State of the Union address to support his
contention that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear
weapons, a basis for the U.S. war against Iraq.
It is hard to believe that information supporting or
refuting the charge of a senior administration leak
isn't out there. Apart from syndicated columnist
Robert Novak, who put Ms. Plame's name in print,
reporters from ABC, NBC, Time and Newsday also have
been cited as having been leaked the information by
presidential political counselor Karl Rove.
When the matter first surfaced, this paper advocated
putting the investigation first in the hands of
nonpolitical Justice officials. Some members of
Congress were calling for the appointment of a special
independent counsel, given the possible conflict of
interest created by a Justice Department headed by
Attorney General John Ashcroft and the alleged
involvement in the affair of Mr. Rove, an Ashcroft
godfather.
Given the failure of the Justice Department to produce
results in its investigation -- not even a grand jury
subpoena so far -- we now recommend that an
independent counsel be appointed, and that the Justice
Department be required to turn over any information
that has been found so far.
It's clear now that Mr. Bush's underlings heard his
Oct. 7 message. The word in Washington today is that,
indeed, the administration official won't be found.
That is unacceptable in terms of the implications for
America's intelligence officers working in dangerous
circumstances overseas. It must not be allowed to
stand.