The Biggest Obama Scandal of All

The second to put American lives at risk.
And how it will all be swept under the rug.

First there was Fast and Furious where the Obama Department of Justice let Mexican drug cartels get their hands on assault weapons. American border agent and countless Mexicans were killed as a result. Attorney General Eric Holder is still stonewalling congressional investigations and may face a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives for Contempt of Congress.

Next there was Solyndra and numerous other green energy firms that went bankrupt after billions of federal tax dollars where pumped in. Thousands of jobs were lost along with the money yet Obama's campaign contributors who were financial backers of the projects made millions.

But each of these is dwarfed by Leakgate in which the most sensitive national security information, including vital knowledge of ongoing intelligence operations and personnel were systematically leaked to reporters in a way that appears to make Obama look like a tough guy.

Peggy Noonan summarizes the severity of the leaks. In short we have given up the secrets we use to protect ourselves and hunt down the bad guys. We have also revealed the methods and in some cases identities of secret agents operating in the field. One such agent as Dr. Afridi who helped us track down Osama bin Laden. He's now in jail. Another was a Saudi who gave us critical information on Al Queda plots in Yemen. His information helped stop plots that would have killed scores of Americans. He's now on the run.

The leaks also confirmed that the Israelis and the U.S. worked together at a secret U.S. facility (which the leakers named) to create a computer virus to infect Iranian nuclear sites to slow down their progress in building a bomb.

Just as troubling were the disclosures about weaknesses in Pakistani nuclear security. We might as well give Al Queda a roadmap on how to get material for a dirty bomb.

All the bad guys have to do is buy the book and read the paper to learn the most sensitive secrets effecting ongoing intelligence operations.

Sources of the leaks are key insiders in Obama's White House.

Democrat and Republican heads of Intelligence Committees in both the House and Senate were so outraged that they joined together and issued a joint statement:

"In recent weeks, we have become increasingly concerned at the continued leaks regarding sensitive intelligence programs and activities, including specific details of sources and methods. The accelerating pace of such disclosures, the sensitivity of the matters in question, and the harm caused to our national security interests is alarming and unacceptable.

"These disclosures have seriously interfered with ongoing intelligence programs and have put at jeopardy our intelligence capability to act in the future. Each disclosure puts American lives at risk, makes it more difficult to recruit assets, strains the trust of our partners, and threatens imminent and irreparable damage to our national security in the face of urgent and rapidly adapting threats worldwide.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee went further and described "an avalanche of leaks." Feinstein also released a separate statement:

“I am deeply disturbed by the continuing leaks of classified information to the media, most recently regarding alleged cyber efforts targeting Iran’s nuclear program.

Today I sent a classified letter to the president outlining my deep concerns about the release of this information. I made it clear that disclosures of this type endanger American lives and undermine America’s national security.

Administration Reaction: Deny and Delay

In a rare press appearance Obama claimed that any suggestion his White House was leaking for political gain was "offensive" and "wrong." So, if you've done nothing wrong why not have a full investigation by an independent prosecutor? The White House response to that suggestion? One word: "no!"

Instead Eric Holder, the most political Attorney General since Nixon's friend John Mitchell conspired to obstruct justice in the Watergate investigation appointed two Department attorneys. One of whom, Ronald Machen, is a long time Obama donor having written his first check to Obama for his 2004 Senate campaign. Does that sound like a guy who will be willing to dig deep at the Obama White House?

It's also important to note that when still members of the U.S. Senate both Obama and Biden repeatedly requested special prosecutors to investigate the Bush Administration. Now the shoe is on the other foot and so is their attitude towards impartial and independent investigations.

This is no Plame Game

Those who recall the media firestorm which broke when Bush White House officials were accused of revealing Valerie Plame as an employee of the CIA might be puzzled by the low key media reaction to this latest news. After all, Plame was no longer a covert agent and her life was never placed at risk. No one was ever prosecuted for revealing her name to the media. But the story went on for years kept alive by the news media which made sure it was front page news. Bush's top aide Karl Rove was all but convicted by a constant drumbeat of press stories.

In the Plame case, shortly after the initial story broke Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the investigation and appointed Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Counsel. Do you think we will see that same kind of impartiality in this case?

If the same standard of media outrage that was generated in the Plame case were applied here where actual lives and ongoing intelligence operations are being put at risk we would have wall to wall media coverage with the Obama White House and Attorney General Eric Holder besieged with press inquiries.

The issues here are so serious that they could conceivably be the cause of some future war or terrorist attack that was preventable if they disclosures had not taken place. Yet since this is the Obama Administration we can count on the news media to keep the story hushed up as much as possible. After all, to many in the media Obama's