The Wilson Affair

Wednesday, October 1, 2003; Page A22

THERE'S A LONG history in this city of combat over unauthorized disclosures of classified information. We have tended to be wary of criminal investigations in search of leakers, which are usually fruitless and can have a chilling effect on legitimate disclosure. But we've also recognized that the government has a right and duty to take steps to protect certain secret information.

The latest case involves the suggestion that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak and other journalists out of a vindictive spirit and a desire to undercut the agent's husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a critic of the Bush administration. The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate the matter because the intentional disclosure of a covert agent's identity is a violation of federal law. But the request for investigation is not what makes this incident so unusual.

What sets this case apart is that it was a Bush administration official who turned (anonymously) on other Bush administration comrades.

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KEY QUOTE:

"The use by an administration insider of classified information for political or vindictive purposes would be, if true, an egregious abuse of the public trust."