House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today expressed strong support for the actions taken by House Intelligence Chairman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) to suspend a Democrat staff member over concerns he may have illegally leaked the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) to The New York Times last month. The Democrat staffer requested the NIE from National Intelligence Director John Negroponte three days before a September 23 story by the Times on its conclusions. Boehner issued the following statement:
"Democrats don't seem to fundamentally understand that illegally leaking classified intelligence undermines our national security and puts American lives at risk. The fact is there may have been others who had access to this classified information, but only one staffer requested it by name the same week it was illegally leaked to the press. Chairman Hoekstra did the right thing by suspending this Democrat staff member's access to classified information pending a full review of this illegal leak.
"Time and time again, Democrats have celebrated illegal leaks of classified intelligence to wrongly justify their weak and indecisive approach on strong national security policies that effectively combat terrorism and keep America safe. Democrats talk a good game about security but consistently fail to support our intelligence community with the tools and the funding needed to get the job done. It proves once again how unserious Democrats are about waging and winning the Global War on Terror."
These leaks are a threat to our national security and they must be stopped. Not only should this staffer be suspended, he or she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
