The CIA Secret Prisons Leak

Top Republican leaders have demanded "an immediate joint House and Senate investigation into the disclosure of classified information to The Washington Post that detailed a web of secret prisons for terrorism suspects facing interrogation," Post reporter Jonathan Weisman wrote November 9, 2005.

Post reporter Dana Priest reported November 2, 2005, about the "hidden global internment network [which] is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism."

Priest reported that the CIA "has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement." "The secret facility," Priest wrote, "is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents."

Justice Department
"The CIA took the first step toward a criminal investigation of a leak of possibly classified information on secret prisons to The Washington Post," Associated Press writer Katherine Shrader reported November 8, 2005. "The agency's general counsel sent a report to the Justice Department about the Post story." "The [CIA] official," Shrader wrote, "who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue deals with classified information, said the referral was made shortly after the Nov. 2 story. ... The Justice Department will decide whether to initiate a criminal investigation."

Trent Lott
CNN reported November 8, 2005, that Senator Trent Lott "told reporters the information in the Post story was the same as that given to Republican senators in a closed-door briefing by Vice President Dick Cheney last week."

The Raw Story reported November 8, 2005, that Lott "said that much of the information contained in the Post report -- which stated that the U.S. was holding terrorist suspects in secret CIA jails overseas -- was discussed at a meeting of Republican senators last Tuesday."

The November 8, 2005, CNN Situation Room news report regarding the investigation and Lott's comments was captured on video and made available online by ShadowTV.com, Crooks and Liars (QT and WMP); and Think Progress (QT).

However, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reported November 10, 2005, that the day before, on November 9, 2005, Lott told reporters "that he had been talking about another Post article. He said he was not talking about the article about the detention and interrogation facilities."

Related Links

 * "CIA asks Justice Dept. to review prisons report. GOP leaders also ask probe of how newspaper got information," CNN, November 8, 2005. : *"Senator tells CNN he believes Republican leaked info on CIA jails," The Raw Story, November 8, 2005: "[the] revelation appears to torpedo the political gambit of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) who called on the Senate and House intelligence committees to investigate who leaked the information to the Post."
 * John Aravosis, "New 'leak' probe exploding in GOP's face," AMERICAblog, November 8, 2005: Trent Lott "says it was likely GOP Senators, or Cheney, who leaked it."
 * "Trent Lott: Keystone Cops," Crooks and Liars, November 8, 2005.
 * Nico, "VIDEO: Frist Leak Probe Backfires," Think Progress, November 8, 2005.
 * Alexander Bolton, "Bungling meant leak letter leaked," The Hill, November 10, 2005.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush administration leaks
 * Extraordinary rendition
 * global detention system
 * Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base