 August 7, 2007
Posted: 12:45 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics requested Monday that the Department of Justice investigate a possible leak of classified information by House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. The group sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales alleging that Boehner may have violated federal criminal law during an appearance on the Fox News show “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” During his appearance on Cavuto’s show, Boehner said, “There’s been a ruling, over the last four or five months, that prohibits the ability of our intelligence services and our counterintelligence people for listening to two terrorists in other parts of the world where the communication could come through the United States.” The group’s request to Gonzales alleges that, until Boehner’s statement, it was not publicly known that portions of the Bush administration’s secret warrantless wiretapping program had been rejected by the special federal court designated to oversee the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The request to Gonzales also states that Boehner apparently made the comment to Cavuto “for partisan political gain,” in order to put pressure on congressional Democrats to pass emergency intelligence legislation. Brian Kennedy, press secretary to the House Minority Leader, responded to the group’s allegations by releasing a statement Tuesday arguing, “The fact of the matter is that Mr. Boehner was referring to a FISA court judge’s orders in January – outlined in a publicly-available letter from the Attorney General to Congress.” Related: New law changes U.S. eavesdropping rules – CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart Filed under: John Boehner
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