Thursday, August 05, 2004
Why do Republicans hate America?
As is obvious from the Valerie Plame case, Republicans in Washington don't seem to think that keeping America's secrets secret is very important. We don't yet know who leaked Plame's name (other than that it's a "senior administration official") , but the source of another security leak was revealed today - Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).
As is obvious from the Valerie Plame case, Republicans in Washington don't seem to think that keeping America's secrets secret is very important. We don't yet know who leaked Plame's name (other than that it's a "senior administration official") , but the source of another security leak was revealed today - Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).
Federal investigators concluded that Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) divulged classified intercepted messages to the media when he was on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, according to sources familiar with the probe.John Ashcroft's Justice Department, incredibly, isn't particularly interested -
Specifically, Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron confirmed to FBI investigators that Shelby verbally divulged the information to him during a June 19, 2002, interview, minutes after Shelby's committee had been given the information in a classified briefing, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Cameron did not air the material. Moments after Shelby spoke with Cameron, he met with CNN reporter Dana Bash, and about half an hour after that, CNN broadcast the material, the sources said. CNN cited "two congressional sources" in its report.
The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office pursued the case, and a grand jury was empaneled, but nobody has been charged with any crime. Last month it was revealed that the Justice Department had decided to forgo a criminal prosecution, at least for now, and turned the matter over to the Senate Ethics Committee.Explain it to me again - how are the Republicans supposed be better guardians of our security and safety??? And why was the Sandy Berger story all over the TV and newspaper front-pages, while this story, about a REAL security breach, is buried on page A17?
The Justice Department declined to comment on why it was no longer pursuing the matter criminally. The Senate ethics panel also declined to comment on its investigation.
