One of the pre-eminent “truths” anti-American Leftists have put forward in the Wilson-Plame affair is that a CIA referral to the Justice Department is proof that a crime has been committed – and that someone has committed treason. I’ve argued against this absurd notion on Leftist sites over the last couple years that this is not so, as a request for an investigation proves nothing. Leftists, of course, reject that argument because it is politically convenient for them to do so.

So, without further ado, let us note that a crime has been committed in the leaking of reports of secret prisons abroad, and that the Washington Post cooperated in treason by printing the story.

The Central Intelligence Agency has asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation to determine the source of a Washington Post article that said the agency had set up a covert prison network in Eastern Europe and other countries to hold important terrorism suspects, government officials said on Tuesday.

The C.I.A.'s request, known as a crimes report or criminal referral, means that the Justice Department will undertake a preliminary review to determine if circumstances justify a criminal inquiry into whether any government official unlawfully provided information to the newspaper. The possibility of this new investigation follows by less than two weeks the perjury and obstruction indictment of I. Lewis Libby Jr., then Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, in a leak case involving other news reporting about a national security issue.

Republican leaders in Congress also jumped into the matter over The Post's article, asking the Intelligence Committees of the House and the Senate on Tuesday to investigate whether classified material had been disclosed. At the same time, the Senate rejected a Democratic call for an independent commission that would conduct an investigation into claims of abuses of detainees in American custody.

Eric C. Grant, a spokesman for the newspaper, said it would have no comment on the new developments concerning its article. A spokesman for the C.I.A. said a crimes report had indeed been sent to the Justice Department but would not otherwise comment.

The front-page article, published last Wednesday, said the agency had set up secret detention centers in as many as eight countries in the last four years.

Surely the Left will now demand the prosecution of all involved Washington Post employees for the crime of disclosing this classified information – and the shutting down of the paper for engaging in treasonous activities.

Or are they just a bunch of hypocrites?

Posted by: Greg at 02:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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