 |
|
Bush drops briefing restrictions
By CAROLYN SKORNECK
Associated Press Writer
10/12/01
WASHINGTON — President Bush has dropped restrictions he imposed a week ago that severely limited the members of Congress who could get top-secret briefings on the war on terrorism, the White House said Friday.
Bush got a call Thursday from Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees, who told the president they had instituted reforms to rein in their members, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
"The president said, 'OK, I'll let full briefings resume,''' Fleischer said.
That news came the same day the House Ethics Committee issued a caution against disclosing secret information, saying violating the Classified Information Oath can result in sanctions.
"At all times — and especially in this time of our country's war on terrorism — the Committee on Standards takes the obligations imposed by the Classified Information Oath with the greatest seriousness,'' the panel said in a memo to all House members, officers and employees.
The oath, which must be taken before they have access to classified information, says they will not disclose the information unless authorized to do so by the House or its rules.
If they are uncertain whether information is secret, they "must make a good faith effort to determine if it is classified before disclosing it in an unauthorized manner,'' said the memo issued by ethics committee Chairman Joel Hefley, R-Colo., and ranking minority member Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif.
On Tuesday, Bush angrily accused lawmakers of leaking to the news media secrets learned in Oct. 2 intelligence briefings on Capitol Hill, just days before the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan began.
He issued a memo Oct. 5 that limited future top-secret congressional briefings to the House speaker, House minority leader, Senate majority and minority leaders and the chairmen and top minority members on the intelligence committees.
Many in Congress criticized the limitation, saying it would impede their ability to carry out their constitutional oversight responsibilities.
Bush backed off a bit during a breakfast meeting Wednesday with congressional leaders who promised lawmakers would handle such information with "more discipline and greater discretion,'' in the words of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
The president offered a truce, the lawmakers said, letting congressional committees on armed services and foreign relations continue to be briefed on anti-terror diplomatic and military operations. Bush "also authorized others to come and share information with the general membership about the operations ongoing in Afghanistan,'' Daschle said.