Republican Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) on Thursday repeated
calls for a special counsel to investigate recent leaks of classified national-security operations, saying lawmakers should not trust the White House to
“investigate itself.”
“The special counsel was created so that there should be a
measure of independence in investigations like this where the natural tendency
of the administration, when it’s the subject of the investigation, the natural
tendency is to circle the wagons,” said Cornyn on CNN’s "Starting Point." “I don’t believe that Attorney General Holder
or his deputy are going to be able to do a truly independent investigation.
“I don’t think we can just let the White House investigate
itself or take its word for it that it’s not the source of these leaks,” he
added.
Last week, leaks detailing a U.S. cyberattack against Iran’s
nuclear program and President Obama’s “kill list” targeting al Qaeda operatives
formed the basis for stories in The New York Times.
Congressional anger over the leaks grew Wednesday, as Sen.
John McCain (R-Ariz.) charged they came from the “highest levels” of the administration
and were intended to bolster the president politically.
Obama press secretary Jay Carney blasted that claim, saying
that it was “grossly irresponsible” to accuse White House officials of using
the leaks for political gain.
Democrats, while expressing disappointment in the leaks and
calling for greater scrutiny, have dismissed suggestions that political
considerations were behind the disclosures.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper will meet
with House and Senate Intelligence committee heads on Thursday to discuss new
measures to prevent the future leaking of national-security secrets.
“The accelerating pace of such disclosures, the sensitivity
of the matters in question and the harm caused to our national-security
interests is alarming and unacceptable,” the Intelligence committees said in a
joint statement Wednesday afternoon.
In his comments Thursday, Cornyn joined Sens. McCain and
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who have also called for a special counsel
investigation. Both senators on the Armed Services Committee also say they will
hold hearings on the leaks.
Cornyn rebuffed claims from administration officials
including Deputy Attorney General James Cole that an independent investigation
would lead to more secrets being released.
"An investigation into the leaks is not classified,” said
Cornyn. “Maybe the subject matter of that leak, but right now we’ve seen both
of those displayed on the pages of The New York Times. One story on the
president’s kill list on al Qaeda with the drone program documents that David
Axelrod, one of his closest political advisers, was sitting in on meetings where
those lists, where those kill lists were compiled.
“This is not a partisan issue — as you know, the chair of the
Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein [D-Calif.], said that this was the
worst leaking she’s seen in her time here in Congress,” Cornyn said, claiming
the issue troubled lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
“This is threatening not only the methods but also the
sources, the cooperation of our allies when it comes to two of the most
sensitive areas of our national security: stopping the Iranian nuclear threat
and finding and taking out al Qaeda with the drone program,” the Texas senator
said.
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