FBI Can Start NSA Leak Probe Down the Street

When the Department of Justice gets around to investigating who leaked the NSA story to the New York Times, they might want to start by reviewing these paragraphs from the Risen/Lichtblau story:

"According to those officials and others, reservations about aspects of the program have also been expressed by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a judge presiding over a secret court that oversees intelligence matters."

"Later briefings were held for members of Congress as they assumed leadership roles on the intelligence committees, officials familiar with the program said. After a 2003 briefing, Senator Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat who became vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee that year, wrote a letter to Mr. Cheney expressing concerns about the program, officials knowledgeable about the letter said. It could not be determined if he received a reply. Mr. Rockefeller declined to comment."

And I thought Senator Rockefeller couldn't talk about it.  Here is Senator Feinstein on Hardball on December 19th:

FEINSTEIN: "As a matter of fact, I called Senator Rockefeller and I got rather heated and said, “What do you know?”  And he said, “I can‘t talk about it.”  “Well, did you?”  “I can‘t talk about it.” 

Skip....

MITCHELL:  Welcome back to HARDBALL.  I‘m Andrea Mitchell in tonight for Chris Matthews. 

And we‘re back with Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who sits on the Select Intelligence Committee, and you sit, Senator Feinstein, along with Jay Rockefeller.  You have already had words with your Democratic colleague. 

This is a two-page letter.  I don‘t know if you can see it.  It is handwritten.  Two pages from Jay Rockefeller that we have just obtained.  And it is dated July 17, 2003.  It is a letter to Vice President Cheney from Jay Rockefeller complaining that he does not like this surveillance. 

He doesn‘t feel comfortable not being able to talk about it and complain publicly about it or complain to his colleagues.  And that he was filing this in the Select Committee‘s Intelligence sealed office there so that nobody could look at it.  But that there would be a record of his objections. 

Have you discussed this with him now since it has come out? 

FEINSTEIN:  No.  He won‘t discuss it with me.  But I say good for him. 

Senator Rockefeller is playing games with the security of the United States.  If I were President Bush, I would refuse to conduct any intelligence briefing in the Senator's presence.