Propelling the Plame story to critical mass was a leak to Andrea Mitchell that the CIA had referred the matter to the Department of Justice for investigation. Was she asleep, out of the loop, or uninterested when several Democratic Senators were being investigated for leaks?

Newsmax reports something which may be the only secret in town that wasn't splashed on the front pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into whether Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, Jay Rockefeller and Ron Wyden leaked details about a secret "black ops" CIA satellite program last December in a move that may have seriously compromised national security, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Jed Babbin said on Saturday. "The CIA made a request to the Justice Department to investigate and possibly bring criminal charges against these three [senators]," Babbin told WABC Radio host Monica Crowley. "My information is that investigation is ongoing."

Rockefeller is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Durbin is the No. 2—ranking Democrat in the Senate.

Media reports on the satellite leak last December indicated that the Bush administration was concerned about public comments by Durbin, Rockefeller and Wyden and that the CIA had requested a Justice Department probe.

"The formal request for a leaks investigation would target people who described sensitive details about a new generation of spy satellites to The Washington Post, which published a page—one story about the espionage program Saturday [Dec. 11, 2004]," a Justice Department official told The Associated Press at the time.

But the same official told the AP that Justice "has not decided whether to investigate."

Former Deputy Undersecretary Babbin's comments on Saturday were the first indication that such a probe was actually launched and is ongoing.

If they did it——and their public comments suggest they did, it's appropriate to yank their security clearances.

Funny what remains secret in the Capitol and what doesn't.

Clarice Feldman   12 22 05