U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is among those members of Congress who are incensed about recent security leaks. The Winston-Salem Republican and member of the Senate intelligence committee said he is likely to introduce legislation early next week that requires any government official or contractor who leaks or discusses secret information to automatically lose security clearance.
An increasing amount of reports citing high-level government leaks has raised the ire of many of Republican leaders. On Friday, The New York Times published detailed account on the country’s use of cyber-weapons. Another news report focused secret drone attacks.
The cyber warfare program was one of the most closely held programs that existed, Burr said.
“It’s unconscionable to me to believe that something I can’t even acknowledge we do could be the subject of a White House press conference or DOD press person’s statements,” Burr said, “that a covert operation could be reported in the national media before the intelligence committee was even notified.”
Sen. John McCain accused administration officials of leaking the security details to bolster the President’s reelection. He has called on President Obama to open a special investigation and prosecute the government official who leaked the sensitive information.
Said Burr: “This has just opened up a can of worms that will make it much more difficult in the future for us to have robust partnerships and to utilize sources if the source believes that they may become the source of public dissemination.”
