Johnson and Grassley sent a letter to the ICIG, Michael Atkinson, calling for more transparency about actions taken to investigate leaks of classified or sensitive information. They sent a letter in early May calling on the ICIG to investigate leaks from the Russia probe. Now, the senators have issued a follow-up letter about the Ukraine call.
“The IC complaint’s material and material relating to President Trump’s call with Ukraine were also leaked, and those leaks included classified information,” the senators wrote. “News reports used anonymous sources to report on information relating to the complaint and phone call that were classified at the time.”
According to Grassley and Johnson, the ICIG has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of an investigation into the leaks. They believe the IC should be just as transparent as the White House in releasing information regarding the whistleblower complaint.
There is no question that someone in, or close to, the intelligence community leaked classified information. Over the past two years there have been numerous leaks from government agencies, but without an investigation or accountability there seems to be no stopping the leaks.
The New York Times reported Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) learned about the whistleblower complaint before it was filed. That information was supposed to be classified.
In Johnson and Grassley’s letter addressed to Atkinson, the senators said they believe the leaks — regardless of whether they pertain to Russia or Ukraine — are a partisan interest game that inevitably impedes the president from executing his duties. Simultaneously these leaks undermine national security, the integrity of the federal administration, law enforcement, and counterintelligence investigations.
Johnson and Grassley request that Atkinson answer the following questions:
Is the ICIG investigating the classified leaks relating to the IC complaint and Ukraine call? If not, why not?
How many people within the ICIG office had access to the complaint and call transcript before they were made public?
The senators requested this information be handed to their respective committees by October 10.
If you would like to become a W³P Lives contributor, please fill out the contact form below. You may submit any email address; however, you will need a gmail to login to blogger.com and access the back end of the blog where posts are created.
If you do not want to submit your actual email, please create a gmail specifically for this purpose and submit it to us via the form below. It will skip a step, since a gmail will be required to login anyways.
After filling out the form keep any eye out for your email invitation in your inbox. Accept the invitation, login to blogger.com, and start making discussions.
Post a Comment