Politics

Dianne Feinstein: Leak in foiled underwear bomb plot ‘has to be prosecuted’ [VIDEO]

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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On this weekend’s “Fox News Sunday,” California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke out about a story from the Associated Press that exposed a secret joint operation between the U.S. government and the Saudi government, which foiled an underwear bomb plot by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

According to the California Democrat, the leak is a serious one.

“A big one — this leak is serious,” she said. “This leak essentially — well, this operation — was closely held. It was CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and TSA. So, a limited number of people knew about it. General procedure would have the chairman and the vice chairman of each [of the] intelligence committees briefed during the attack, or prior to it. This was not the case, there was no briefing.”

Whoever leaked the information, she said, should be prosecuted, because the leak jeopardized the government’s ability to fight terrorism.

“Apparently, the leak came to an AP reporter,” she continued. “The government called, asked that the story be held, the story was held until Monday and then was released. What this does, it certainly jeopardizes the asset. It certainly jeopardizes our ability to relate to other countries, for other countries to help us, and it gives a tip off to AQAP [al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula] to be more careful about who they use as their couriers, as their bombers. So, the leak really did endanger sources and methods, and the leak, I think, has to be prosecuted. So, the investigation is being done, [and] hopefully can be concluded, and criminal charges will go to the Department of Justice.”

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Tags : terrorism
Jeff Poor