Schumer: President Must Reaffirm That He Will Get To Bottom Of Plame Leak And Dismiss Those Involved, Even If It Is Karl Rove

SCHUMER: PRESIDENT MUST REAFFIRM THAT HE WILL GET TO BOTTOM OF PLAME LEAK AND DISMISS THOSE INVOLVED, EVEN IF IT IS KARL ROVE

President Must Also Direct Rove to Publicly Answer Seven Key Questions ASAP

Senator Says White House Can't Have It Both Ways: One Day They Deny Top Advisors Involved in Plame Leak, Next Day They Refuse to Comment

Schumer Also Sends Letter to Justice Department: 'Under what terms are national security clearances suspended or revoked?'

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today called on President George W. Bush to stand by initial statements on the leaking of a covert CIA operative to the press, urged the President to direct Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to answer key questions on the leak immediately, and released a letter to Department of Justice asking when security clearances are revoked or suspended. Schumer, who originally called for an investigation into this national security breach, praised the President's initial determination to get to the bottom of this terrible leak in his White House. However, Schumer has been puzzled by the Administration's reticence to explain fully the connection between Mr. Rove and the 2003 leak.

"When I first called for the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's name, I believed that the President was on the same page as me and the rest of the country to get to the bottom of this national security breach. But the White House can't have it both ways - one day they deny that top advisors were involved in the leaking of a covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame, but yesterday and today White House Spokesman Scott McClellan refused to comment," Schumer said.

Schumer stated in his letter to the President, "I urge you to order Deputy Chief of Staff Rove to publicly and forthrightly explain any role he had in this incident immediately. I also ask you to reiterate your resolve to fire without delay anyone who was involved with this leak - no matter who that may be."

"I strongly agreed with your earlier statement that you were determined to get to the bottom of this incident and applauded you for coming out so strongly on the side of our national security. But I believe to truly follow through on that statement you must insist that Mr. Rove, not his lawyer, immediately and publicly answer the preceding questions. Until Mr. Rove comes clean about his involvement in this incident we will not be able to achieved your expressed wish of getting to the bottom of what happened.

Schumer's letter to the President went on, "You have previously promised to fire anyone found to be leaking Valerie Plame's identity, a standard of conduct I strongly admire. However, just yesterday Press Secretary McClellan refused to reiterate your standard of conduct. Standards of conduct mean little unless they are applied across the board and without prejudice.

Schumer also released a letter today to Deputy Attorney General James Comey which asks about the standards under which security clearance is granted to the President's top advisors, including the Deputy Chief of Staff, and more importantly, the standards under which security clearance is suspended or revoked.

"It goes without saying that our nation's trusts with highly classified information, such as a covert agent's identity and other national security material, is critically important in the protection of that information," Schumer states in his letter to a top Justice Department official.

Schumer posed the following questions to the DOJ:
- What level of security clearance does the Deputy Chief of Staff typically have?
- What level of investigation is required to achieve that level of security clearance?
- Are there previous instances of someone's security clearance being suspended or revoked based on credible news reports that they participated in the leaking of classified information or similar conduct?
- What standards are used, and have been used in the past, with regard to suspending someone's clearance because of suspected and/or proved leaking or similar conduct?
- What are the procedures for someone's security clearance being suspended or revoked?

Click here to view letter to the President - http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/Letters/2005/07.12.05.POTUS%20ltr%20on%20leaks.pdf

Click here to view letter to the Department of Justice - http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/Letters/2005/07.12.05.DOJ%20ltr%20on%20leaks.pdf

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/pr-latest_news.html