Think Progress found a real gem that warrants a lot of attention.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, many members of Congress received an administration briefing on the threat of another attack. In fact, about three weeks after 9/11, the Washington Post reported:
Asked whether more terrorist attacks are inevitable if the United States retaliates, [Sen. Richard] Shelby said, “You can bet on that.” … U.S. intelligence officials have told members of Congress there is a high probability that terrorists associated with Osama bin Laden will try to launch another major attack on U.S. targets here or abroad.
Immediately after that report, Bush issued an order limiting access to classified intelligence only to 8 members of Congress — the Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
In effect, the president yanked security clearances for 96 senators. In a report explaining why this was necessary, Gannett News Service reported on Oct. 1, 2001, that Bush was restricting information because, “The Washington Post reported last week that various lawmakers had been told there would be more terrorist attacks if the United States retaliated.”
That’s all it took. Intelligence officials told lawmakers another attack was likely, a sentor told a reporter, and the White House acted swiftly to protect what it considered classified information. In the president’s words, “We can’t have leaks of classified information. It’s not in our nation’s interest.”
If Bush were willing to even consider a similar standard for his own staff, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby would have lost their clearance a long time ago.
Update: The math mistake in the fifth paragraph has been corrected.