FBI opens investigation in CIA leak

WASHINGTON — The FBI began a full-scale criminal investigation Tuesday into whether White House officials illegally leaked the identity of an undercover CIA officer, and President Bush ordered his staff to cooperate with the first major probe of his administration.

Democrats demanded the appointment of a special outside counsel, but Bush resisted. "I'm absolutely confident that the Justice Department can do a good job," he said on a re-election fund-raising stop in Chicago.

"If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it and we'll take the appropriate action," Bush said. "And this investigation is a good thing."

Democratic leaders said Attorney General John Ashcroft was too close to the White House to conduct an impartial investigation. "We don't have confidence in John Ashcroft . . . and we know without a doubt that somebody broke the federal law," Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said, "If there ever was a case for the appointment of a special counsel, this is it."

With pressure building, the Justice Department alerted the White House late Monday of the decision to move from a preliminary inquiry into a full investigation, a step rarely taken with complaints involving leaks of classified information.

The investigation is aimed at finding who leaked the name of the CIA operative, possibly in an attempt to punish the officer's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had accused the administration of manipulating intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraq.

Most White House employees discovered the probe was under way when they turned on their computers and found an e-mail timed at 8:46 a.m. that said: PLEASE READ: Important Message From Counsel's Office. It alerted the staff to keep all documents that could be related to the investigation.

"I want to know the truth," Bush said. Anyone with information, inside or outside the administration, should step forward, he said.

Although Bush said he welcomed the investigation, it was an embarrassing development for a president who promised to bring integrity and leadership to the White House after years of Republican criticism of the Clinton administration.

While the administration appeared cool toward naming a special counsel, Ashcroft has not ruled out that possibility, a senior law enforcement official said.