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American Morning
Justice Department Probe Leak of CIA Operative's Name
Aired October 01, 2003 - 07:04 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: To the White House and the rapidly expanding probe into the Bush administration's leaks regarding a CIA official. President Bush in his first public comments about the matter yesterday says he welcomes the full investigation now under way by the Justice Department.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is following all of this right now -- our first story this morning there.
John -- good morning to you.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
The stakes here are enormous. The Justice Department now launching a full-scale investigation, looking into the conduct of the president's top aides and the vice president's top aides, but the president is trying to project an image of calm. He says no one wants to know the truth more than he does, and he's promising full cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated laws, that person will be taken care of.
KING (voice-over): In this morning memo, White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez told staffers the Justice Department is investigating possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee, and told them you must preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the department's investigation.
Democrats rushed to demand that Attorney General John Ashcroft name an independent special counsel, noting, among other things, that top White House advisor Karl Rove once worked for an Ashcroft Senate race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I think there is a real concern about objectivity.
KING: The president sees things differently.
BUSH: I'm actually confident that the Justice Department will do a very good job.
KING: Senior Justice Department officials say career prosecutors made the decision to launch the investigation, not the attorney general.
Ashcroft said he could not answer questions because it is a pending criminal case, but he did read a statement defending the integrity of his investigators.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation are career professionals.
KING: The CIA operative was identified by anonymous senior administration officials in this July Robert Novak newspaper column. She is the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had angered the Bush White House by accusing it of exaggerating intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs. Democrats call it blatant and criminal political retaliation, rivaling Richard Nixon's "enemies list."
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: But it's a signal that is sent really frankly to everyone in politics. Nothing is off limits if you cross us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: As the political rhetoric escalates here, many are complaining that the bigger question is being overshadowed. Did the disclosure of Ambassador Wilson's wife's name, her identity as a CIA operative, undermine national security here in the United States and perhaps put sources at risk around the world -- Bill.
HEMMER: John, if you could quickly, take us behind the scenes. What forced the president to make the comments he made yesterday and talk about it publicly?
KING: He wants you to know the Justice Department is investigating the White House. It serves the president no purpose from a political standpoint to stay quiet. The White House wanted very quickly for the president to get out there and publicly promise full cooperation and publicly say that he wants to get to the bottom of this as much as anyone else.
They also wanted the president to get out there, Bill, because they knew the Democrats were screaming for an independent counsel. They wanted the president to say on the record in a calm manner that he believes John Ashcroft is perfectly qualified to conduct this investigation.
HEMMER: Thanks, John -- John King from the Front Lawn. We'll talk again.
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 October 1, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: To the White House and the rapidly expanding probe into the Bush administration's leaks regarding a CIA official. President Bush in his first public comments about the matter yesterday says he welcomes the full investigation now under way by the Justice Department.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is following all of this right now -- our first story this morning there.
John -- good morning to you.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
The stakes here are enormous. The Justice Department now launching a full-scale investigation, looking into the conduct of the president's top aides and the vice president's top aides, but the president is trying to project an image of calm. He says no one wants to know the truth more than he does, and he's promising full cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated laws, that person will be taken care of.
KING (voice-over): In this morning memo, White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez told staffers the Justice Department is investigating possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee, and told them you must preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the department's investigation.
Democrats rushed to demand that Attorney General John Ashcroft name an independent special counsel, noting, among other things, that top White House advisor Karl Rove once worked for an Ashcroft Senate race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I think there is a real concern about objectivity.
KING: The president sees things differently.
BUSH: I'm actually confident that the Justice Department will do a very good job.
KING: Senior Justice Department officials say career prosecutors made the decision to launch the investigation, not the attorney general.
Ashcroft said he could not answer questions because it is a pending criminal case, but he did read a statement defending the integrity of his investigators.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation are career professionals.
KING: The CIA operative was identified by anonymous senior administration officials in this July Robert Novak newspaper column. She is the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had angered the Bush White House by accusing it of exaggerating intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs. Democrats call it blatant and criminal political retaliation, rivaling Richard Nixon's "enemies list."
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: But it's a signal that is sent really frankly to everyone in politics. Nothing is off limits if you cross us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: As the political rhetoric escalates here, many are complaining that the bigger question is being overshadowed. Did the disclosure of Ambassador Wilson's wife's name, her identity as a CIA operative, undermine national security here in the United States and perhaps put sources at risk around the world -- Bill.
HEMMER: John, if you could quickly, take us behind the scenes. What forced the president to make the comments he made yesterday and talk about it publicly?
KING: He wants you to know the Justice Department is investigating the White House. It serves the president no purpose from a political standpoint to stay quiet. The White House wanted very quickly for the president to get out there and publicly promise full cooperation and publicly say that he wants to get to the bottom of this as much as anyone else.
They also wanted the president to get out there, Bill, because they knew the Democrats were screaming for an independent counsel. They wanted the president to say on the record in a calm manner that he believes John Ashcroft is perfectly qualified to conduct this investigation.
HEMMER: Thanks, John -- John King from the Front Lawn. We'll talk again.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
