Congressman Tierney Calls For Suspension of Rove's Security Clearance and Access to Classified Information

Congressman Tierney Calls For Suspension of Rove's Security Clearance and Access to Classified Information

All Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) today joined Congressman John F. Tierney (D-MA), the only New England Member of HPSCI, to call on President George Bush to revoke White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove's security clearances and access to classified information. In a letter to the President, all nine Democrats on the Committee urged him to take immediate action.

"It is outrageous that even though Mr. Rove has acknowledged, through his attorney, that he disclosed the identity of a covert intelligence officer, he continues to have access to our nation's highest level of classified intelligence," said Congressman John Tierney.

Recently released e-mails confirm Mr. Rove identified covert C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame, although not by name, to a Time Magazine reporter. For the past two years, a federal prosecutor has been conducting an investigation to find out if someone in the White House leaked Plame's identity in retaliation for her husband's opinion article challenging the President's evidence for going to war in Iraq.

"As one of the highest ranking officials in the Bush Administration, Mr. Rove knows full well that all government employees with access to classified information are obliged to protect it from unauthorized individuals and to verify whether information is, in fact, unclassified before disclosing it," said Tierney.

Past breaches of national intelligence by less senior officials have resulted in the revocation and often termination of those individuals. On June 10th 2004, President Bush committed to fire any individual who leaked classified information relating to the Valerie Plame affair.

"The security of our country is at stake. We must look beyond elections, beyond politics, and beyond personal relationships. The White House is not an asylum for those who use backdoor maneuvers that jeopardize the safety and protection of our professional intelligence officers and the security our nation," Tierney stated.

"It would be most appropriate for President Bush to invite and accept Mr. Rove's resignation. At a minimum, the President should immediately revoke Mr. Rove's security clearances," concluded Tierney.

http://www.house.gov/tierney/press/rove07132005.shtml