Rep. Pitts blasts colleagues for intelligence leaks

Washington—Congressman Joe Pitts (R, PA-16) sharply criticized congressional colleagues today for leaking intelligence information learned during classified briefings.  Information related to the House Intelligence Committee during a Wednesday classified briefing was leaked to the press within hours.

“If you can’t keep your mouth shut, you shouldn’t be serving on the House Intelligence Committee,” said Congressman Pitts.  “The National Security Agency has 32,000 employees.  They’ve kept this information classified for more than nine months.  Congress couldn’t keep it a secret for more than a few hours.”

Information on two messages that were intercepted by the NSA on September 10, 2001 was first reported by television media yesterday afternoon.  The messages were not translated into English until the evening of September 11^th.  The messages may or may not have any bearing on the events of September 11^th.

Congressman Pitts said, “If Congress expects to continue as a coequal branch of government as the Founders intended, than it has to prove that it is trustworthy and up to the task.  This information is now floating around completely out of context, and it cannot be clarified without committing further breaches of secrecy.

“The Leadership of the House, and the Leadership of the Intelligence Committee should take immediate action to ensure that breaches like this do not occur again.

“This is not a game.  We are a nation at war, and ‘loose lips’ still ‘sink ships.’”

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