White House Faces Barrage of Leak Queries - Yahoo! News:
"John Podesta, a former chief of staff in the Clinton White House, said, 'Scott McClellan's credibility isn't just in tatters. It is more like confetti.'
Administration critics said Bush's actions were a misuse of the declassification process.
Bush's 'selective declassification of highly sensitive intelligence for political purposes is wrong,' said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Pelosi said a presidential executive order requires a uniform system for classifying, declassifying and safeguarding national security information and asked, 'Why didn't President Bush follow this protocol before authorizing the selective leak of highly sensitive intelligence?'
Rep. Rush Holt (news, bio, voting record), D-N.J., called for a House Intelligence Committee investigation and for the president to explain his actions in person to Congress.
Last year, a commission appointed by Bush to look into the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq cautioned against leaks for political purposes.
'Policymakers who leak intelligence to the press in order to gain political advantage ... may do so without fully appreciating the potential harm that can result to sources and methods,' the commission said.
It said the intelligence community should consider implementing 'a widespread, modern-day equivalent of the `Loose Lips Sink Ships' campaign to educate individuals about their legal obligations and possible penalties to safeguard intelligence information.' "
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