Holder Pressured to Appoint Special Prosecutor Over National Security Leaks

(Newsroom America) -- Republican senators are pressing Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to examine whether the White House is responsible for a number of high-profile national security leaks.

"The numerous national security leaks reportedly originating out of the executive branch in recent months have been stunning," said a letter signed by 30 GOP senators, according to Fox News, which obtained a copy of it.

"If there were ever a case requiring an outside special counsel with bipartisan acceptance and widespread public trust, this is it," it said.

Among many of the concerns are recent revelations about U.S. drone strikes in the Middle East, as well as the disclosure of information that the U.S., along with Israel, may have been responsible for a cyberattack against Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

The letter specifically points to a recent New York Times story about the drone strike program and its list of human targets. In the story, the paper cites "three dozen of [President Obama's] current and former advisers" as sources.

The letter suggests that Thomas Donilon, Obama's national security adviser, could be a likely source, in part because he was frequently cited in David Sanger’s book "Confront and Conceal."

The White House, including the president himself, has strongly denied being responsible for the leaks.

"The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive. It's wrong," Obama said earlier this month.

The letter also says Holder's earlier decision to appoint a pair of U.S. attorneys to investigate the leaks is not good enough. In particular, Republicans have complained about one of the attorneys because he has been a regular supporter of Obama.

"This administration cannot be trusted to investigate itself," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said during a press conference earlier this week. "You cannot investigate yourself and not have a conflict of interest."

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