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Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today issued the following statement in reaction to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s revelation that President Bush authorized him to leak portions of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program to the press as part of campaign to discredit anti-war critic Ambassador Joseph Wilson:
“Since the beginning of this controversy, the President has repeatedly stated that he would not tolerate anyone in his administration leaking classified information to individuals not cleared to receive it. If Mr. Libby’s testimony on this matter is true, it means a sitting President authorized the leak of extremely sensitive intelligence for purely political purposes—an unprecedented and gross misuse of the secrets he is charged with protecting. Today, I have asked House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Chairman Peter Hoekstra for a full HPSCI investigation into this matter, and have asked House Speaker Dennis Hastert to request the President to explain in person to Congress his actions in this matter.
“Though the President may have the authority to declassify information, no elected official charged with protecting the Constitution should be allowed to do so for partisan political purposes. Congress has a duty to take whatever measures are required to prevent it from ever happening again.”
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