Justice Reviews Request for Probe Of Satellite Reports

The Washington Post ^ | December 16, 2004 | Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus

[neverdem]

The National Reconnaissance Office has asked the Justice Department to consider opening a criminal investigation into recent disclosures about a highly classified satellite program that has prompted criticism in Congress because of escalating costs, two administration officials said yesterday.

The Justice Department and the FBI are reviewing the request to determine whether classified information was leaked and whether there is enough evidence to support a criminal probe, officials said.

The request from the NRO, which manages spy satellite programs, comes after reports in The Washington Post and other publications about a stealth satellite program under debate in Congress. The Post on Saturday reported details of the program and said its cost has ballooned from $5 billion to $9.5 billion. The New York Times published an article on the program Sunday. The request for a Justice Department review was first reported by the Associated Press.

The satellite project was debated in closed hearings on Capitol Hill, but some lawmakers took the unusual step of complaining publicly about the program's relevance and cost, without identifying the program or describing it in any detail. Four Democratic senators refused to sign "conference sheets" related to the 2005 intelligence authorization bill, reportedly to protest the program.

The NRO's request marks the latest in a series of high-profile federal inquiries related to leaks of classified or sensitive information, including an ongoing probe into whether Bush administration officials illegally identified a covert CIA operative to reporters in the summer of 2003.

Under normal operating procedures, an agency that believes there has been a leak of classified information has its general counsel file a referral with the Justice Department. The department then turns the matter over to the FBI for investigation.

The first step in the process is for the originating agency to complete an 11-part questionnaire that...

[Wild Irish Rogue]

If they can open a criminal investigation into Robert Novak using Valerie Plame's name in a column, this should be a slam dunk.

[Enchante]

Sure, but that would be assuming far more consistency and rationality than exists in the PC bureaucracy....

Highly sensitive leaks of the most sensitive defense and intel data: GOOD
(so long as it is being used against a Republican President)

Trivial leaks regarding liberal slimeball 'diplomat' who turns against Republican administration: BAD

[Libloather]

The way Rush talked about this, Rockefeller and others in his merry band of perps may have already been indicted on some criminal charges.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11697628%255E1702,00.html

Call for probe on spy satellite leak
By Ted Bridis in Washington
December 15, 2004

THE US Justice Department had been asked to investigate who disclosed secret details about a mysterious and expensive US spy satellite project, a federal law enforcement official said.

The request came from an unspecified intelligence agency.

Under Justice guidelines, prosecutors must review such requests and ensure they meet strict requirements - such as whether the information had been properly classified - before they agree to begin a criminal investigation.

The Justice Department had not yet determined whether classified information was leaked and had not decided whether to investigate, the official said, because the case involved highly classified information.

If an investigation is approved, the official said, it would target people who described sensitive details about the satellite to The Washington Post, which published a story Saturday.

The Washington Post's executive editor, Leonard Downie, said the newspaper did not discuss its sources.

The Justice Department already has a high-profile leak investigation under way. It is probing who in the Bush administration disclosed the name of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Her name was published in a 2003 column by Robert Novak, who cited two senior administration officials as his sources. Since then, Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and Judith Miller of The New York Times have been held in contempt for refusing to disclose their confidential sources.

Disclosures about the satellite project emerged after The Associated Press reported last week on stinging criticism about its cost and effectiveness. The harsh comments came from West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, and other Democrats on the panel.

Senator Rockefeller complained that the program - which he declined to describe in detail - was "stunningly expensive", unjustified and wasteful, and he pledged to continue efforts to kill it.

The Post reported on Saturday that the program was aimed at making surveillance satellites less detectable. It said the program's projected cost had nearly doubled from $US5 billion to nearly $US9.5 billion and that it was being operated by the National Reconnaissance Office under the code name "Misty".

The National Reconnaissance Office, which designs, builds and operates a constellation of US spy satellites, would not comment.

Senator Rockefeller and the other Democrats - Senator Richard Durbin, Carl Levin and Ron Wyden - all refused last week to sign a compromise Bill that was part of Congress' new blueprint for US intelligence spending.

Despite their complaints, the Senate voted to send the Bill including the disputed program to President George W. Bush for approval.

Senators Rockefeller and Wyden each have described votes during the preceding two years by the intelligence panel to kill the disputed program. Senator Durbin also went on a Sunday talk show and alluded to the project.

Senator Wyden said in a Senate speech that the project was no longer necessary because of changed capabilities of US enemies, adding that other US intelligence programs could perform the same function for less money and risk.

He said senators were concerned about how the government contract was awarded. Auditors believe the program would exceed its proposed budgets "by enormous amounts of money," Senator Wyden said.

The Senate Ethics Committee might be asked to determine whether Senators Rockefeller, Wyden and Durbin disclosed any sensitive information and should face sanctions, a congressional aide said.

Senator Levin has made no public criticism of the program. Intelligence Committee rules prohibit members from disclosing intelligence information or discussing what happened in closed, executive sessions.

Aides to Senators Rockefeller, Wyden and Durbin would not comment yesterday.