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American Morning
Special Prosecutor Will Head up Investigation into Leaked name of CIA Operative
Aired December 31, 2003 - 08:09 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: A special prosecutor will now head up the investigation into who leaked the name of a CIA operative. This coming after the attorney general, John Ashcroft, removed himself from the probe yesterday.
From Crawford, Texas this morning, Suzanne Malveaux is tracking the story for us -- good morning there.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
President Bush was notified, he was notified about this decision from the Justice Department. The Justice Department making that decision independently of the president, we are told. But, however, the president's spokesperson coming out yesterday saying that he was confident that the Justice Department would carry out a fair investigation; at the same time, that he wants to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.
Now, there are nearly 40 White House officials who have been questioned by the FBI, including the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove, as well as the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan. The investigation really now is in an intense phase, a fourth prosecutor as well as the likelihood of empanelling a grand jury at this time.
Attorney General John Ashcroft will not be overseeing this investigation because of his close ties to Rove and other White House officials that could pose the perception of a conflict of interest. Instead, the U.S. attorney from Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald, will be taking over. The Justice Department saying that this is out of an abundance of caution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Both the attorney general and I thought it prudent, and maybe we are being overly cautious, but we thought it prudent to have the matter handled by someone who is not in regular contact with the agencies and entities affected by this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, just yesterday I spoke with former Ambassador Joe Wilson. He is the one, of course, at the center of all this, that accused the administration of leaking the identity of his wife, who was a covert ciao, saying that the White House is trying to retaliate. But he said he thought this was a good move.
It should also be noted I spoke with the Republican strategists. They said this is a good move for the White House that it's a special counsel as opposed to an outside counsel. They say this allowed this process to move forward as quickly as possible and the White House, the last thing they want is to see this investigation go into the election season -- Bill.
HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks.
Suzanne Malveaux up early in Crawford, Texas this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
name of CIA Operative>
Aired December 31, 2003 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A special prosecutor will now head up the investigation into who leaked the name of a CIA operative. This coming after the attorney general, John Ashcroft, removed himself from the probe yesterday.
From Crawford, Texas this morning, Suzanne Malveaux is tracking the story for us -- good morning there.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
President Bush was notified, he was notified about this decision from the Justice Department. The Justice Department making that decision independently of the president, we are told. But, however, the president's spokesperson coming out yesterday saying that he was confident that the Justice Department would carry out a fair investigation; at the same time, that he wants to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.
Now, there are nearly 40 White House officials who have been questioned by the FBI, including the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove, as well as the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan. The investigation really now is in an intense phase, a fourth prosecutor as well as the likelihood of empanelling a grand jury at this time.
Attorney General John Ashcroft will not be overseeing this investigation because of his close ties to Rove and other White House officials that could pose the perception of a conflict of interest. Instead, the U.S. attorney from Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald, will be taking over. The Justice Department saying that this is out of an abundance of caution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Both the attorney general and I thought it prudent, and maybe we are being overly cautious, but we thought it prudent to have the matter handled by someone who is not in regular contact with the agencies and entities affected by this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, just yesterday I spoke with former Ambassador Joe Wilson. He is the one, of course, at the center of all this, that accused the administration of leaking the identity of his wife, who was a covert ciao, saying that the White House is trying to retaliate. But he said he thought this was a good move.
It should also be noted I spoke with the Republican strategists. They said this is a good move for the White House that it's a special counsel as opposed to an outside counsel. They say this allowed this process to move forward as quickly as possible and the White House, the last thing they want is to see this investigation go into the election season -- Bill.
HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks.
Suzanne Malveaux up early in Crawford, Texas this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
name of CIA Operative>
