Classified Leak Investigation

CLASSIFIED LEAK INVESTIGATION

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I want to follow up on what my colleague from Iowa has had to say. I thank him for his strength and leadership on this issue.

As was mentioned, it is a year ago that Robert Novak published a column outing a covert CIA agent. The next day I called for an investigation.

For about a month not much happened. Then, and I think the record should underscore this, George Tenet, head of the CIA, publicly and privately asked for an investigation, and one began.

I don't have any complaints with the investigation. I think both Mr. Comey and Prosecutor Fitzgerald have done a fine job. I have faith in what they are doing, at least from everything I have heard. But the bottom line is very simple. First, this was a dastardly crime. This is a crime of a serious nature committed by someone in the White House. We know that much. Unfortunately, the attitude of the White House has not been what it should be. There ought to be an attitude there that says this was a terrible crime. To reveal the name of an agent jeopardizes that agent's life and the lives of many others with whom they came in contact. There ought to be every effort to turn over every stone to find out who did this.

There is a lot of speculation it was done for vengeance, to get at Ambassador Wilson. It doesn't matter what the reason is, the bottom line is there is a rule of law in America, and this crime is a lot worse than a lot of crimes that we get prosecutions for. The bottom line is simple. I believe if the President wanted it to come out, and said, It doesn't matter where the chips fall, we are going to find out who did it and bring them to justice, it would have come out already as to who did it.

Instead, we first had stonewalling-no investigation. Now we have an investigation, but everyone is hiding behind the shield laws and other types of things that say this gets in the way of the sanctity of freedom of the press.

That is not true. If the President insisted that every person in the White House sign a statement-not just asked them to do it, insisted-under oath, that they did or did not, and then released the journalists they might have talked to, we would know who did it.

Ultimately, as Harry Truman always reminded us, the buck stops with the President. This is lawbreaking. This is not just political intrigue, this is not just payback, this is lawbreaking of a serious crime. Right now, as we speak, we are trying to build up human intelligence, which fell too far in the CIA. Right now, as we speak, there are American men and women risking their lives in these undercover activities. They know that somebody who did the same has been put at risk, and there is no strong rush to find out who did it and punish them.

That hurts our intelligence gathering. It hurts our soldiers. It hurts the rule of law. On this first anniversary we make a plea to the President: It is not too late. Make every person who worked in the White House during the time of the leak sign a statement under oath either that they did or did not talk to them. If they will not sign it, they should not be in the White House anymore. This is too serious to treat as everyday politics.

I yield the floor.