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John Ashcroft Recuses Himself from CIA Leak Probe

Aired December 30, 2003 - 13:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And from Baghdad and the current situation, there we go to Kelli Arena in Washington for more on the story of what led to the war and the investigation of the CIA and CIA leaks in the run-up of war.
Kelli Arena, how are you?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, what an intro.

Well, this is what we have. This just in, Justice sources tell CNN that Attorney General John Ashcroft will actually recuse himself from the CIA leak's investigation that we heard so much about. That is the investigation into who revealed the name of former ambassador Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plain (ph), as a CIA operative.

If you remember, when that investigation first got under way, there was a lot of pressure, calls from Senator Schumer, for example, of New York, for the attorney general to recuse himself from the investigation. He had, the attorney general, had refused at the time, but Justice officials always left the option open. We are expecting to hear more about how that decision was made at 2:00 at a press conference today out at the Justice Department.

And that investigation has been going on quite steadily. They actually -- a new prosecutor was just added in recent weeks to that investigation. There was talk of empaneling a grand jury to go over some of that evidence. Although our sources have told us there's been no major breakthroughs in that investigation just yet; they're not ready or anywhere near the point of bringing or accusing anyone of that leak. It was a wide universe that investigators had to go through. But this is a pretty important development.

And so, again, the attorney general recusing himself from that CIA leak investigation. We'll hear more at 2:00 -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Kelli Arena in Washington. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 30, 2003 - 13:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And from Baghdad and the current situation, there we go to Kelli Arena in Washington for more on the story of what led to the war and the investigation of the CIA and CIA leaks in the run-up of war.
Kelli Arena, how are you?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, what an intro.

Well, this is what we have. This just in, Justice sources tell CNN that Attorney General John Ashcroft will actually recuse himself from the CIA leak's investigation that we heard so much about. That is the investigation into who revealed the name of former ambassador Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plain (ph), as a CIA operative.

If you remember, when that investigation first got under way, there was a lot of pressure, calls from Senator Schumer, for example, of New York, for the attorney general to recuse himself from the investigation. He had, the attorney general, had refused at the time, but Justice officials always left the option open. We are expecting to hear more about how that decision was made at 2:00 at a press conference today out at the Justice Department.

And that investigation has been going on quite steadily. They actually -- a new prosecutor was just added in recent weeks to that investigation. There was talk of empaneling a grand jury to go over some of that evidence. Although our sources have told us there's been no major breakthroughs in that investigation just yet; they're not ready or anywhere near the point of bringing or accusing anyone of that leak. It was a wide universe that investigators had to go through. But this is a pretty important development.

And so, again, the attorney general recusing himself from that CIA leak investigation. We'll hear more at 2:00 -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Kelli Arena in Washington. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com