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CLOSING IN (on Jay Rockefeller)

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shawa
CNO

Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject: CLOSING IN (on Jay Rockefeller)

Looks like Rocky is getting a little panicky, accusing the White House of leaking classified info. (Heh heh!)

Quote:

The American Spectator

CLOSING IN

Word out of the Defense Intelligence Agency and law enforcement sources has the FBI and the Department of Justice comparing notes and dates on who in the U.S. Senate received national security briefings on both the overseas terrorist prisons and the NSA overseas terrorist monitoring programs, and when those briefings took place.

"The number of Senators who received briefings is not as large as people think," says one law enforcement source. "These were programs with a limited 'Need to Know" list on Capitol Hill."

Federal investigators looking into the leaks of both those programs to the press are zeroing in on the Senate, and are expected to continue to hold interviews of both Senators and their senior staff in the coming days. "This investigation is moving forward at a pretty fast clip," says the law enforcement source. "We're not looking at a two-year probe. We're talking about moving fast."

As yet, cooperation from the media outlets -- the Washington Post and the New York Times has been minimal, but investigators aren't sure they will need full cooperation to make the case. "The Hill may be all we need," says the source.

Focus of the investigation remains on the staffs of two Senators, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Sen. Dick Durbin, as well as committee staff for the Senate Intelligence Committee and career intelligence staff detailed to U.S. Senate offices and committees. Last week, it was revealed that on February 17 Senator Rockefeller had sent a letter to the White House claiming that the Bush Administration had illegally leaked classified materials to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward for a book project he was working on with cooperation from the Bush White House.

A number of people of Capitol Hill and in the intelligence community interpreted the letter as an attempt by Rockefeller to play defense should it be revealed that his office or staff tied to him on the Intelligence Committee are somehow involved in the serious leak cases.

_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776)

baldeagle
PO2

Joined: 27 Oct 2004
Posts: 362
Location: Grand Saline, Texas

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:30 am Post subject:

_________________ "In a word, I want an American character, that the powers of Europe may be convinced we act for ourselves and not for others; this, in my judgment, is the only way to be respected abroad and happy at home." --George Washington

Army_(Ret)
Lt.Jg.

Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 108

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:10 am Post subject:

Don't get your hopes too high. We saw what happened to Sandy "Burglar" Burger. You and I would be standing on a gallows with a hood over our heads for either infraction. _________________ Peace is acheived through victory

kate
Admin

Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 1891
Location: Upstate, New York

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:09 am Post subject:

Heehee, one can only hope
empasis is mine
SierraTimes

Quote:

Senators Rockefeller and Durbin May Take Lie Detector Tests
Jim Kouri

The United States government and its intelligence community are adopting a series of initiatives to discourage government employees from leaking classified information to journalists, The Washington Post reported in its Sunday edition.

The efforts include several FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws, the Post said.

During the Bush Administration, a nexus of politicians, government workers and members of the news media have worked overtime in leaking classified information. From the secret terrorist prisons to the National Security Agency's super-secret surveillance program, intelligence officials and the Bush Administration have had to watch their counterterrorism efforts neutralized for political reasons.

Special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently interviewed dozens of employees at the CIA, the NSA and other intelligence agencies as part of an intense and wide-reaching investigation. Many employees who possess security clearances at the CIA, FBI, the Justice Department and other agencies received letters from the Justice Department forbidding them from discussing even unclassified intelligence programs.

But people such as former deputy-undersecretary of Defense Jed Babbin don't think the Justice Department investigators and prosecutors have the guts to indict a US senator. Babbin said it would cause a battle royal on the Hill, if not a constitutional crisis.

He did say however, that any senator or Congressional staffer that holds a security clearance can be asked at any time to take a polygraph. The individual can of course refuse to take the test, but failure to do so is reason to remove that person's security clearance. Babbin further said that Senators Rockefeller, Durbin, and Wyden, and some on their staffs will soon be requested to take polygraphs.

Even FBI field offices are involved in the leaks investigation. For example, special agents from Los Angeles have already contacted Sacramento Bee reporters about their coverage of a terrorism case that was based on classified court documents. In that case, some suspect that court personnel might have leaked the documents to reporters with whom they may have congenial relations.

At CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, their internal security office has been conducting numerous interviews and performing many polygraph examinations of government employees in an effort to discover whether any of them have had unauthorized contacts with reporters, the Post said.

Some media watchers, lawyers and editors told the Post the incidents perhaps represent the most extensive anti-leak campaign in a generation and that they have worsened the already tense relations between mainstream news organizations and the White House.

But it's not only the Bush Administration that is frustrated with all the leaks and news stories. Recently Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) said straight out that the New York Times, which ran a frontpage story on the top secret NSA spy program, should be prosecuted for their actions.

Some news stories have pointed fingers at Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), co-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as a possible leaker. Others cited sources that pointed to senate staffers. Still others believe that liberal politicians in both parties are secretly leaking information to the news media for political reasons.

The debate over how much classified information the White House should share with lawmakers flared up when Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) defended himself against charges he leaked sensitive information.

Durbin actually took to the Senate floor to deny accusations that he disclosed classified information on Iraq after CIA Director George Tenet briefed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in 2003, which led many observers to say, "He doth protesteth too much."

But don't expect too much to come from these leak investigations. When the leakers are Democrats, they are called whistleblowers; when they're Republicans they're called leakers. Also, no senator has been disciplined for leaking since 1987, when Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was forced to give up his seat on the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee. It was discovered he leaked classified information to reporters. Now he's on the Senate Judiciary Committee which is currently investigating top secret information regarding the NSA surveillance activities.

"The individual can of course refuse to take the test, but failure to do so is reason to remove that person's security clearance"
will be interesting to see how that plays out
_________________
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one of..... We The People

shawa
CNO

Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:36 pm Post subject:

American Spectator

Quote:

Defiantly Shaky
By The Prowler
Published 3/20/2006 12:08:11 AM

Sen. Harry Reid told reporters last week that it might be true that American voters don't know where Democrats stand, but that they will know by November.

That may be a little too late for undecided voters, which is why both House and Senate Democrats on the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee keep insisting that they have a positive message.

~SNIP~

On the Senate side, Sen. Harry Reid and his chairman of the DSCC, Sen. Chuck Schumer , continue to press the anti-war rhetoric as key to their success. On Thursday afternoon, Reid took heat from some members for his soft response to Republicans who called Democrat bluffs on a censure vote against President Bush for the NSA overseas terrorist monitoring program.

According to sources with knowledge of the closed-door meeting, Reid pushed back on his colleagues, telling them that it wasn't a good idea to vote to censure anyone with ties to the NSA program, particularly since there was a criminal investigation underway to determine who had leaked the NSA program's specifics, and that investigation could enmesh one or more of their own.

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