9/11 Leak Probe Targets Lawmakers
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday she was unaware of any request by the FBI that committee members turn over records as part of an investigation into the leak of classified information.
Agents have asked members of the Senate Intelligence Committee for telephone records, schedules and other documents indicating any conversations that lawmakers had with reporters.
The committees are conducting a joint inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I know of no such request of House members," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "I just want to say that checking on the leaks, wherever they are, is important because some of this information leaked out ... is a distorted view of what may have happened on Sept. 11."
The FBI is seeking a broad range of records from senators and aides that might indicate press contacts, including schedules maintained on electronic devices such as Palm Pilots.
The FBI wants information on any contact those senators had with reporters between noon on June 18 to 3:15 p.m. on June 19. That is when CNN reported the details of two Arabic-language messages the National Security Agency intercepted Sept. 10 making vague references to an impending attack on the United States. Other media organizations began reporting the contents of the two messages based on the agency intercepts. The messages said, "The match is about to begin," and "Tomorrow is zero hour."
The leaks, Pelosi said, "are problematic because they reveal, could reveal our sources and methods. They're problematic because they cause more stress and undue anxiety for the families in thinking that Sept. 11 could have been prevented but for that intercept being made known publicly."
The intelligence committees requested the FBI leak investigation in June after news organizations reported details of the NSA intercepts.
"We take these leaks very seriously. We have currently under review not only members and staff of Congress but also executive agency and intelligence agency officials who heard the same information during the same closed hearings," said Sen. Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate committee.
"We felt the most appropriate means of doing the review was to ask the Department of Justice, which could look at all the potential sources of this leak. They are conducting that investigation and we are fully cooperating," Graham, D-Fla., said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
In June, following White House complaints about classified information being leaked, Graham asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to have the Justice Department launch an investigation.
The information requests come at a time when some members of Congress are already disgruntled that an executive branch agency is probing the actions of legislators whose job is to oversee FBI and intelligence agencies.
In recent weeks, FBI agents finished questioning nearly 100 people, including all 37 members of separate House and Senate intelligence committees and some 60 staff members. At the conclusion of their interviews with members and staff, FBI agents typically asked them if they would be willing to take polygraph tests. Most declined, the Washington Post said Saturday.
The National Security Agency, based at Fort Meade, Maryland, is one of the government's most secretive intelligence agencies. Much of its information carries a higher classification than other sorts of intelligence. It is illegal to release classified information.
Neither congressional historians nor legal experts could recall any situation in which the FBI was probing a leak of classified information in this way, the Post said.