Democrats Query Gonzales On Plame Investigation

Democrats Query Gonzales on Plame Investigation

Apr 15, 2005 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats on the House of Representatives intelligence panel have asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to explain why no government officials have been charged in a federal probe into the 2003 disclosure of a CIA operative's identity.

A letter, dated April 14 and signed by the committee's nine Democratic members, expressed "grave concern" that no charges have resulted from the grand jury investigation into whether the Bush administration illegally leaked the CIA officer's name to the media.

Disclosing the identity of a clandestine intelligence officer is a crime.

Investigators are trying to establish who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame in 2003 to syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who revealed her identity in a column.

Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a Clinton administration diplomat, accused the White House of responsibility for the leak. He said officials disclosed her name because Wilson had publicly disputed a claim by President Bush about Iraq's prewar attempts to buy nuclear weapons materials.

"Given that Mr. Fitzgerald has publicly acknowledged that the factual investigation of the Novak disclosure is complete, we request that you brief the committee on the matter and provide an explanation as to why no charges have been brought," the Democrats' letter said.

The Justice Department did not return phone calls.

But Gonzales, who has recused himself in the case, told CNN on Friday that he was confident the investigation was proceeding properly.

"I have every confidence in the world that (Fitzgerald is) proceeding on a basis that he thinks is appropriate, and that at the appropriate time (the) matter will come to a head," Gonzales said.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Democrats had not sent him a copy of their letter and dismissed the action as a political stunt.