Justice Department to probe CIA leak, White House link The FBI will investigate if White House employees leaked a CIA officer's name By Ron Hutcheson, Shannon McCaffrey and Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — The Justice De partment on Tuesday announced a full-scale investigation to determine whether White House officials leaked the name of a CIA officer in an attempt to discredit and punish a leading critic of President Bush's Iraq policy. Bush ordered his staff to cooperate, and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales directed presidential aides to save documents and any other ma terial that might help investigators. Justice Department officials held open the possibility that Attorney General John Ashcroft might appoint an independent special counsel to oversee the FBI investigation. "No options are dosed," depart ment spokesman Mark Corallo said. The developments raised the prospect of a full-blown White House scandal while Bush is sinking in the polls, snuggling to win international help in Iraq and grappling with Con gress over his request for another $87 billion in war-related spending. "If there's a leak out of my admin isnation, I want to know who it is. If the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of," Bush said on a campaign trip to Chicago and Cindnnati. At issue is whether White House of finals leaked the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame to retaliate against her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador to Iraq. At the CIA's request in early 2002, Wilson investigated reports that Iraq had tried to buy bomb-making urani um in the West African nation of Niger. Last July, he went public with his conclusion that the allegation was unfounded and accused the Bush ad ministration of twisting the facts. A week later, conservative colum nist Robert Novak reported that "sen ior administration officials" had told him that Wilson got the Africa assign ment with his wife's help, implying that Wilson wasn't qualified to deter mine whether Iraq had sought en riched uranium in Niger. The column identified Plame by name, blowing any hope that she could continue to work undercover and potentially endangering her over seas contacts. Federal law makes it a crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for anyone with access to clas sified information to reveal the name of a covert government agent. Although the agency sends the Jus tice Department roughly one case a week involving a leak of classified in formation, they rarely result in prose cutions because of the difficulty of finding the leaker. "It's hard, very hard," the CIA offi cial said. "At the end of the day, it turns out there are a lot more people who know secrets than you think." (c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Knight Ridder correspondent William Douglas contributed to this report Nation & World News Serving our patrons for 20 years Fine Italian & Northwest Cuisine Live Jazz Nightly (no cover, Monday - Thursday) Kitchen open til bar closes jofeds.com Lunch Tues-Thurs 259 E. 5th Ave. • 343-8488 Dinner 7 Nights J / one stop,/ n< We hoc • disc and • budged hotels and ho^ • rail and bus parses udent more! New Orleans.$110 Las Vegas.$113 San Francisco.$131 Vancouver.$141 Miami.$160 New York.$192 (airfare not included) 877 1/2 East; 13Ch Sb. (541) 344.2263 STA TRAVEL WE'VE BEEN THERE. exciting things are happening @ www.statravel.com PHOTO SPECIALS SEPT. 22 - OCT. 12 2ND SET FREE! 3x5 prints: 12 exp $2.25 24 exp $4.25 36 exp $6.25 4x6 prints: / 12 exp $3.25 24 exp $6.25 36 exp $8.25 From 35mm C-41 full frame color film. (Panoramic, half-frame, and negatived < ixcluded.) 20% OFF APS PROCESSING: 15 exp. 25 exp. 40 exp. (one set) $4.40 (one set) $6.66 (one set) $9.40 Allow 1 -2 days for APS processing. Glossy or matte finish. FUJ1COLOR UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BOOKSTORE www.uobookstore.com We’ve got sports 24/7 www.dailyemerald.com Resource Conservation Information for Students and Staff Ter? TMirnyr You Regulate Your Own Temperature Q Avoid Disposable Products 10 Recycle Your Used Materials By recycling 1 ton of paper, you save: • 17 trees • 6953 gallons of water • 462.57 gallons of oil • 586.5 pounds of air pollution • 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space • 4077.45 KW/hr of energy* * Provided by Weyerhauser's Environmental Savings Report ~£Annk yon for conserving resources 4nA recycling 4t tke (University of £)regon! Sponsored by the UO Campus Environmental Issues Committee You are invited to attend Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Portland Area Reception for Alumni and Prospective Students To be held at: McMenamins Kennedy School 5736 NE 33rd Avenue Portland, OR 97211 Parsons Room On October 2nd, 2003 from 6:00-9:00pm