A Cascade of Secret Intelligence Leaks
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Drone attacks, the Stuxnet virus and exactly how Osama bin Laden was killed. Has the Obama White House leaked too much classified information or did reporters ferret it out on their own? Are leaks threatening national security? Does the public have a right to know? Also, will Attorney General Eric Holder be held in contempt of Congress? On Reporter's Notebook, how Barack Obama's own story differs from what a new biographer has discovered about the President's ancestry and his early life.
Banner image: President Barack Obama speaks about the economy and allegations of White House leaks in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House June 8, 2012 in Washington, DC. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Making News
Will Eric Holder Be Held in Contempt of Congress? ()
The White House has escalated the administration's clash with Congress over the so-called "Fast and Furious" scandal, in which the Justice Department lost track of weapons that turned up in Mexico. When Attorney General Eric Holder appeared again today before the House Oversight Committee, Republicans renewed their threat to hold him in contempt for refusing to turn over some documents. In response, the President today asserted "Executive Privilege." David Mark is senior editor for Politico.
Guests:
- David Mark: Politico, @DMarkPOLITICO
Main Topic
Leaks, National Security and Presidential Politics ()
The Obama White House is accused of leaking classified information to make the President look good and of punishing whistleblowers who make him look bad. Earlier this month, California Senator Dianne Feinstein expressed concern about threats to national security to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Republican Senator John McCain wants a special prosecutor appointed to investigate White House leaks, but the President says that's not where the information is coming from. Others insist that the people have a right to know what the government's doing. Now the world knows the US is targeting specific people with drone strikes and that it attacked Iran's nuclear program with a computer virus. What new dangers have been created? Is it all about the President's re-election campaign? Is there anything new about leaking?
Guests:
- Ed Luce: Financial Times
- PJ Crowley: George Washington University, @PJCrowley
- Frank LoBiondo: House of Representatives (R-NJ), @RepLoBiondo
- Daniel Klaidman: Newsweek/Daily Beast, @dklaidman
- James Spione: independent documentary film producer, @jamesspione
Links:
- David Sanger's 'Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power'
- New America Foundation's 'score card' on drone attacks
- Pew Research Center on skepticism over drone operations
- USA v. Thomas Drake
- USA v. Bradley Manning
- Luce on the leaks that are devaluing the Obama doctrine
- Klaidman's 'Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency'
- Spione's 'Incident in New Baghdad'
- Luce's 'Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Dissent'
Reporter's Notebook
Maraniss on Obama ()
When Barack Obama's biographer finally sat down with his subject, he had learned more than the President himself knew about his ancestry and his own family. David Maraniss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the Washington Post and the acclaimed biographer of former President Bill Clinton. His latest book, just out yesterday, is Barack Obama: the Story.
Guests:
- David Maraniss: journalist and biographer, @davidmaraniss
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