Posted on 10/20/2006 6:09:56 AM PDT by areafiftyone
House Intel Chief Fires Democratic Staffer Over Intel Leaks!
The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has suspended a Democratic staff member pending an investigation into whether he leaked a high-level intelligence assessment to the news media.Representative LaHood said the democratic staffer asked for the informatino just days before the leak was published in the New York Times.
The staff member, who was not identified, was suspended this week by Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., his spokesman said Thursday evening. The aide is being denied access to classified information pending the outcome of a review, said the spokesman, Jamal Ware.
The leak to The New York Times of a National Intelligence Estimate on global terror trends caused a political uproar last month. In the assessment, completed in April, analysts from the government's 16 spy agencies concluded that the Iraq war has become a "cause celebre" for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that probably will get worse before it gets better.
In a letter to Hoekstra dated Sept. 29, Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., a committee member, said the Democratic staffer requested the document from National Intelligence Director John Negroponte three days before a Sept. 23 story by the Times on its conclusions.HotAir has more including previous video on the leak.
"I have no credible information to say any classified information was leaked from the committee's minority staff, but the implications of such would be dramatic," LaHood said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "This may, in fact, be only coincidence, and simply 'look bad.' But coincidence, in this town, is rare."
Pass the popcorn! This should be an interesting weekend.
Misleading headline. The staffer wasn't fired, just suspended (WITH PAY).
There is no evidence the staffer leaked the information, just evidence the staffer received the information right before the NY Times apparently got it and published (note: the NYTimes could have gotten the information weeks earlier and been waiting for a good time to publish).
This wasn't an enforcement action, it was a standard response to a possible security violation. Whenever there is a question about security, you suspend the person, pull their clearance, and then investigate. If you find nothing, you reinstate their clearance.
The story isn't the staffer, who is not yet accused of anything.
The story is how the democrats reacted to this standard move by screaming about it, and throwing a fit. They are more concerned with protecting their own party than in making absolutely sure our secrets don't get leaked.
They are even protesting that the document was only "secret", not "top secret", so it shouldn't matter.
I just post em as I see em! LOL
Where is the indictment?
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