Did the WH tell Hoekstra (R) to punish staffer who leaked the NIE?

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Over protests, House intelligence chair suspends staffer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats say there was no basis for the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee to suspend a staff member who's come under scrutiny for the leak of a secret intelligence document.

The unidentified staff member, a Democrat, was suspended this week by Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, and is being denied access to classified information pending the outcome of a review, Hoekstra's spokesman, Jamal Ware, said Thursday.

President Bush, who suggested the document was leaked for "political purposes" weeks before the midterm elections, later made public four pages of the estimate's key findings.

A conference call to the committee's nine Democrats on Wednesday to inform them of the aide's suspension prompted outrage, said two congressional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal committee business.

The officials said that the National Intelligence Estimate was marked "secret," rather than "top secret" or another more restrictive classification. As a result, thousands of people would have had access to it, including the intelligence, armed services and international relations committees of the House.

report: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/20/congress.leak.ap/index.html?eref=rss_politics


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[AlCzervik]

1. gee his suspension looks like a way to keep even more info classified.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. So, does Hoekstra have proof or is he just following Bush's lead

of guilty till proven innocent.

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3. kick

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4. Blunt on Intel Leak

10/20/2006 12:39:00 PM

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=74730

Contact: Burson Taylor Snyder or Jessica Boulanger, 202-225-0197, both of the Office of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) today issued the following statement on the suspension of a Democrat House Intel Committee staffer pending review of the possibility that the staffer illegally leaked sensitive intelligence to The New York Times:

"We are a nation at war and intelligence is one of the most valuable tools we have to fight terrorists. Intelligence should never be used as a political weapon.

"It is absolutely necessary that the House Intel Committee conduct a thorough review of the illegal leak of intelligence to The New York Times in war time. I support Chairman Hoekstra's decision to suspend a staffer who may have orchestrated the leak until all the facts are known.

"I hope Democrats would never knowingly and illegally leak sensitive information just to score political points. And that's what an investigation would determine. I would expect anyone who is found to have illegally leaked such information to be terminated from government employment and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

"The safety and security of the American people is too important to risk with partisan political games."

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=74730

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5. Bush was the first to call for the prosecution of the leak

his hands are all over this. Still trying to cover it up. What about the intelligence estimate should Americans not want to know? The staffer was doing a patriotic duty. We have a right to know that Bush was glossing over the Iraq occupation's effect on our nation's security. The intelligence report said the occupation was making the threat worse, not better as Bush has been claiming. No one should be punished for revealing that 16 of our intelligence agencies thought Iraq was fueling the threats against us.