THERE'S A LONG history in this city of combat over unauthorized disclosures of classified information. We have tended to be wary of criminal investigations in search of leakers, which are usually fruitless and can have a chilling effect on legitimate disclosure. But we've also recognized that the government has a right and duty to take steps to protect certain secret information. "
The latest case involves the suggestion that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak and other journalists out of a vindictive spirit and a desire to undercut the agent's husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a critic of the Bush administration. The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate the matter because the intentional disclosure of a covert agent's identity is a violation of federal law. But the request for investigation is not what makes this incident so unusual.
What sets this case apart is that it was a Bush administration official who turned (anonymously) on other Bush administration comrades. We know this because on Sunday Post writers Mike Allen and Dana Priest reported that "a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife." The senior Bush administration official told The Post, "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge." Asked about the motive for disclosing the behavior of other administration officials, the purported whistleblower said the leaks were "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility.
