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[Print This] [Email This] U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's July 24, 2003 letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller
July 24, 2003 I am writing to request that you launch an immediate criminal investigation into reports that two senior members of the Bush Administration made the identity of an undercover Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative public. According to several recent news accounts, two senior Administration officials last week distributed unsolicited information indicating that Valerie Plame, the spouse of long-time State Department veteran Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was a CIA operative. This disclosure was part of an apparent attempt to discredit Ambassador Wilson’s findings about potential uranium exports from Niger to Iraq and intimidate other officials from speaking their minds. As you are aware, the unauthorized disclosure of information relating
to the identity of an American intelligence official is a crime
punishable by fines and up to 10 years in prison under the Intelligence
Identities and Protection Act. On Tuesday of this week, the White
House denied that it had given any authorization to release such
information on Ms. Plame. It is essential, therefore, that you discover
source of this information because it would appear that a significant
intelligence asset has been illegally compromised. If the facts that have been reported publicly are true, it is clear that a crime was committed. The only questions remaining to be answered are who committed the crime and why? I request that you immediately launch an investigation to determine the source of this information and assess whether there is enough evidence to refer the matter for criminal prosecution. Sincerely, |
