FOX 'n HEN HOUSE
FBI + The White House, Congress and the CIA
Wed Oct 1 22:20:06 2003
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FBI + The White House, Congress and the CIA

White House officials began combing telephone logs and other records Wednesday
while the FBI assembled senior agents for the politically delicate task of ...
FBI probes White House for CIA leak - The Globe and Mail

Washington — The White House staff began going back through records and telephone logs Wednesday in search of any information relevant to the criminal investigation into public disclosure of a CIA undercover officer's identity, a spokesman for President George W. Bush said.

Press secretary Scott McClellan said he had no knowledge about anyone going to the Justice Department with any information about the case, as Mr. Bush had urged. Similarly, he said he did not know of anyone hiring legal counsel.

“At this point, all the Department of Justice has asked us to do is preserve any and all information that could be related,” Mr. McClellan said. He indicated that the White House would consent, if asked, to polygraph tests for staff. “We will co-operate fully, at the direction of the president ... Full co-operation is full co-operation.”

One day after the probe was announced, there was no sign of investigators at the White House, Mr. McClellan said.

Although Mr. Bush said he welcomed the investigation, it was an embarrassing development for a president who promised to bring integrity and leadership to the White House after years of Republican criticism and investigations of the Clinton administration.

It was the first investigation of the Bush administration and came as the president's popularity was declining in opinion polls and criticism was mounting over the aftermath of the war with Iraq.

Mr. Bush, on Tuesday, said, “I want to know who the leakers are” and he voiced confidence that career Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents can impartially conduct the investigation. Several newspapers pointed out that, if past experience is any guide, the investigation will not uncover the source of the leak.

Mr. Bush said he is “absolutely confident” the investigation can be handled within his administration and reiterated that he has asked the White House staff to co-operate. The president also maintained there is no need to name a special investigator.

The investigation is aimed at finding who leaked the name of the CIA operative, possibly in an attempt to punish the officer's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraq.

While Mr. McClellan has said it's “ridiculous” to suggest that Mr. Bush's political strategist, Karl Rove, leaked the name, the spokesman refused to discuss whether Mr. Rove had talked with reporters about her.

Mr. Wilson claims Mr. Rove told reporters that his wife was “fair game.”

Brushing aside questions, Mr. McClellan said, “Now we're getting into issues such as: did anyone talk about what was in the news, what was reported in the paper, things of that nature. That can go down a whole lot of different roads. Was it known that that information was classified? I think that's an important question.”

The spokesman also defended the administration's failure to take action when the operative's name showed up in a column by Robert Novak. “There was no information brought to our attention beyond an anonymous source in media reports to suggest that there was White House involvement,” he said.

Faced with increasing demands by Democrats for an independent investigation, Mr. Bush said Tuesday during a fundraising stop in Chicago: “I have told our administration, people in my administration to be fully co-operative. Leaks of classified information are a bad thing. ... I want to know who the leakers are.”

That did not satisfy Democratic leaders, who argued that Attorney General John Ashcroft was too close to the White House to run an independent investigation.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031001.wcia1001/BNStory/International/


Searched news for FBI+White House. Results 1 - 10 of about 2,320

• Enter the FBI: investigation linked Iraq with Niger — NEWSWEEK, Thu Oct 2 04:47
• Conflict of Interest? CIA Leak Despite Longtime Rove-Ashcrof — democracynow.org, Thu Oct 2 02:46
• White House admits fabricating case for war — Bill Press, Thu Oct 2 04:40
• The CIA leak — Robert Novak, Thu Oct 2 05:09