White House aides lectured on leaks
Top U.S. officials sent to ethics classes CIA jail report sparks call for new probe
WASHINGTON— Ethics classes for White House staffers.
Calls for a new probe over socalled “ black sites.”
Republicans pointing fingers at Republicans. And the return of one of the most storied leakers in recent history.
Suddenly, everyone in the U. S. capital is obsessed with leaks, an outgrowth of almost two weeks of fierce partisan battle stemming from the CIA leak affair. With Capitol Hill in a lather over leaks, a serious issue was devolving into comedy. While U. S. President George W. Bush was sending the first wave of 3,000 White House staffers to mandatory refresher classes on ethics, his administration was welcoming Iraqi deputy prime minister Ahmad Chalabi back to Washington.
That is the same Chalabi who is still under FBI investigation for allegedly leaking American intelligence to Iran and is widely believed to be the source of much of the disinformation leaked to willing journalists, aiding the White House in its rush to war in Iraq. Among those who attended the first day of ethics school was White House chief of staff Andrew Card and counsel — and former Supreme Court nominee — Harriet Miers. Another student was David Addington, who replaced Lewis “ Scooter” Libby as Vice- President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff after Libby was charged with lying about his role in leaking the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, still under investigation for his role in the case, heads to the classroom today. White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said the hourlong briefings remind staffers about security precautions for handling classified information. “ The briefings will include the rules and laws relating to classified information and what’s expected of people,” he said.
While class was in, the Republican leadership demanded a probe into the leaking of information about clandestine CIA prisons in the former Soviet bloc. It was leaked to the Washington Post
and that newspaper’s revelations have put the White House on the defensive over American use of torture.
“ If accurate, such an egregious disclosure could have long- term and far- reaching damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks,” said Republican Senate leader Bill Frist and House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert in a letter to Senate and House intelligence committee chairmen. Not so fast, said Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi. He said the story appeared in the Post a day after Cheney briefed Republican senators about the secret sites.
“ There’s no question that there was a discussion to a Washington Post
reporter by a staff person who apparently knew everything that went on there last Tuesday,” said Lott, pointing to the room where the meeting was held. “ I just think we spend too much time around here chasing rabbits. You give 10 senators information, it’s going to get out. So what are you going to prove here?” The White House ethics class was a response to the case in which officials were accused of leaking Plame’s name. She was identified in print by syndicated columnist Robert Novak. The classes drew disdain from Democrats, but satirists had a field day. Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, shared some mock school questions with his audience Monday night. One classroom task cited by Stewart: “Draw a CIA agent. Now fax your drawing to Bob Novak.”