Policy & Strategy

GOP Sens. McCain, Graham bash Obama, Biden for hypocrisy; Sen. Feinstein (D) opposes independent investigation on leaks. 

Holder said he and FBI Director Robert Mueller have both been questioned in the probe. 

Holder rebuffed calls for a special counsel, telling lawmakers he had "great faith" in the U.S. attorneys investigating the leaks.

Yemen's embassy in Washington released an unprompted public statement Tuesday claiming a “significant” victory against al Qaeda-linked militants in the restive country, but without mentioning the controversial U.S. role.

The statement follows reports early Tuesday that the U.S.-backed Yemeni army had driven insurgents from two of their main strongholds in the south of the country. Militants from Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) had held the two southern cities for more than a year, Reuters reports.

“Yemen’s military, with the direct support of the patriotic citizens of Abyan, have broken the strength of al Qaeda,” reads the statement from embassy spokesman Mohammed Albasha.

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The United Nations is out with a grisly report on the situation in Syria that documents incidents of torture and the use of children as young as 8 as human shields.

The U.N. report blames the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using children in the violent conflict.

Syrian forces used children from ages 8 to 13 as human shields for a raid, the report says, the army “placing them in front of the windows of buses carrying military personnel into the raid on the village.”

The Topline: Attorney General Eric Holder is headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to testify one day after House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he plans to move forward with a resolution next week placing Holder in contempt of Congress.

While Holder’s fight with Republicans over the "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation will be the main event at Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, the investigation launched by the Justice Department Friday over a series of national security leaks will be provide a very strong undercard.

The Judiciary panel has a number of senators who have taken a particular interest in the leak cases, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman, who says she will be writing legislation to try to clamp down on the intelligence leaks.

The panel also includes several Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), who have questioned whether politics is involved in the leaks and have called for a special counsel to investigate.

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Hillary Clinton said India and six other nations were waived because they have “significantly reduced” their purchases of Iranian oil.

The White House last week rejected calls in Congress for a special counsel, prompting McCain to promise a resolution.

The White House, echoing a late March finding, again concluded Monday that global oil markets have enough supplies to accommodate expanded sanctions aimed at curbing exports from Iran.

“[T]here is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petroleum products purchased from Iran by or through foreign financial institutions,” Obama wrote in a memo to the secretaries of State, Energy and the Treasury.

“I will closely monitor this situation to ensure that the market can continue to accommodate a reduction in purchases of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran,” Obama wrote.

The determination is required under a fiscal 2012 defense programs law, which expanded federal efforts targeting Iran’s nuclear program. The law authorized sanctions against foreign banks that purchase Iranian oil. The toughened sanctions, which are slated to take effect as soon as June 28, are designed to reduce Iran’s oil revenues and isolate its central bank.

The decision casts further doubt on whether supply lines into Afghanistan will ever be reopened to coalition forces.