The Justice Department has launched an investigation into the allegations that senior Bush administration officials leaked the name of a CIA agent to several members of the media in an attempt to discredit or intimidate political opponents.

The seriousness of these charges demands a serious response, and the Justice Department and Attorney General John Ashcroft have an inherent conflict of interest when it comes to investigating the president, under which they serve.

A special counsel should be appointed.

Former diplomat Joseph Wilson IV was sent by the CIA to Africa to investigate claims that Iraq had attempted to buy uranium from Niger. Wilson discredited the information and reported his findings to the government, but the Bush administration continued to repeat the uranium rumors as fact.

In July, Wilson went public and accused the president of twisting intelligence to justify an unnecessary war. Soon after, syndicated columnist Robert Novak identified Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative and cited two senior administration officials as the source for the information.

Since Novak’s column, Wilson and the CIA have refused to comment on Plame’s work. CIA Director George Tenet called for an investigation into the leaks and the possible violation of the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which was intended to protect U.S. spies from disclosures that could jeopardize their lives, the lives of their sources and their missions.

According to the Washington Post, at least six other reporters were contacted by administration sources, who were trying to discredit Wilson with information about Plame.

If true, the idea that the administration launched a smear campaign against a critic and, in the process, compromised national security by identifying an agent working to track down weapons of mass destruction approaches treason.

Plame’s career has been ruined if she really is an agent, and her life has been jeopardized needlessly, even if she is not.

This investigation comes at a time when many of the details about prewar intelligence are being questioned. A report from the House Intelligence Committee called the information deficient, and a preliminary report by the team searching for weapons of mass destruction cites scant evidence that they exist.

If a U.S. agent was compromised as part of a political vendetta, then heads need to roll.

The administration says it will cooperate fully with any investigation.

But calls for a special counsel have been rebuked by the White House and the Justice Department. That is the very solution that will allow the Bush administration to most quickly deal with this issue and affirm to the American people that it is being handled fairly.

Correction: An editorial Tuesday should have noted that tensions boiled over following the release of Lewiston Mayor Larry Raymond’s letter to the Somali community in 2002. The Somali Advisory Group received copies of the letter Oct. 2 and informally distributed it around the community. The letter made national headlines Oct. 4. The year was incorrectly reported by the Sun Journal.
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