White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday "there is no need for a special counsel" to investigate the recent series of national security leaks.
Carney was reiterating comments made last week during press time aboard Air Force One. On the same day, Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said "we would welcome anybody to look at anything," when asked about the possibility of an independent, special counsel.
NORAH O’DONNELL: Sen. McCain over the weekend accused the administration of intentionally leaking information to enhance Obama’s image as a "tough guy" for reelection. Do you have a response to that?
JAY CARNEY: Well, my response is the same as it was last week, which is: That is wrong and absurd. The president addressed this himself from this podium Friday; he takes very seriously the need to protect classified and sensitive information, and that has been his posture since he took office.
O’DONNELL: How can you say unequivocally that it’s wrong and absurd? Have you done an internal investigation?
CARNEY: I can tell you that this administration—that this White House, under the guidance of the president, takes very seriously the need to protect classified and sensitive information, and the need to do so for our national security interests, to protect our counter-terrorism operations, and other operations that are undertaken by our forces and our government. I can point you to the authors of some of the materials that have led to this discussion and what they’ve said about the fact htat they were not directed to or provided information by the White House in regard to this, that their work was the product of long investigation and reporting elsewhere. This president—I would point you to his comments Friday about his views on this matter.
O’DONNELL: The president says he has zero tolerance for these kinds of leaks—then why not support a special prosecutor?
CARNEY: Again, the president addressed this, I addressed this; I think our seriousness about this matter in general—about these matters in general—has been demonstrated while the president’s been in office. I would refer you to the Department of Justice and FBI when it regards questions on matters under investigation or potential investigation. There is no need for a special counsel. These things have been consistently been investigated when that’s appropriate.
O’DONNELL: The charge is that, given that this investigation will be lead by two U.S. attorneys who then report to the attorney general of the United States, that it’s not an independent investigation.
CARNEY: I think there are very capable people in the Department of Justice. The attorney general has spoken on this.