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Washington, D.C. --- Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12), Chairman of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, released the following statement in response to the verdict in the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice.
“I commend the jury for having reached a judicious verdict that holds Scooter Libby accountable for his reprehensible actions. Throwing sand in the eyes of prosecutors investigating the political “outing” of an undercover intelligence officer is a serious crime and an unconscionable transgression. It was done solely to discredit and smear critics of the Iraq war. I hope and expect that his sentence will reflect the severity of these heinous crimes.”
Rep. Holt has introduced legislation revising the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) to prevent political appointees and other officials from exposing the identities of intelligence community employees for political purposes. H.R. 488 would require that any inquiry for information on an intelligence community employee or contract by a non-intelligence community executive branch official—career, appointed, or elected—be reported to the Attorney General and the Congressional intelligence committees within 24 hours of such a request.
“Exposing the identity of undercover intelligence officers – those who work daily to keep us safe from threats abroad – is a severe criminal offense. To do so because of a political vendetta is shocking and reprehensible. In addition to prosecuting offenders to the fullest extent of the law, we must make it more difficult for political appointees to access personal information, which is totally irrelevant in a policy dispute.”
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