Leak was 'a criminal act,' Bush stresses

WASHINGTON — President Bush said on Monday that the unauthorized disclosure of an undercover CIA officer's identity was a "very serious matter" and "a criminal action" as the White House announced that 500 of its 2,000 employees had responded to a Justice Department demand for documents as part of an investigation into the source of the leak.

The announcement and Bush's adamant words reflected a tougher public approach by the White House to the leak. The administration has been criticized by Democrats for not treating the disclosure of the classified information more forcefully.

"This is a very serious matter, and our administration takes it seriously," Bush said in response to a question from a reporter during a joint White House news conference with President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya.

Bush, in his most extensive comments about the leak to date, urged the person who disclosed the information to come forward. "I'd like to know who leaked, and if anybody has got any information inside our government or outside our government who leaked, you ought to take it to the Justice Department so we can find the leaker," the president said.

Bush added that "we're talking about a criminal action" and that he looked forward "to finding the truth."

The White House has given its employees until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to comply with a Justice Department demand that they turn over "all documents that relate in any way" to the disclosure of the CIA officer's identity.

Investigators say they want access to electronic records, phone logs, documents and diaries that relate to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a trip he took to Niger in 2002, his wife's relationship with the CIA, or any contact with the syndicated columnist Robert Novak and two other reporters who wrote about Wilson.

The investigation is focused on finding who leaked the identity last summer of Wilson's wife, a CIA undercover officer named Valerie Plame. Wilson, who undertook a mission for the CIA in 2002 to investigate whether Iraq had tried to buy uranium for its nuclear weapons program from Niger, concluded in a New York Times Op-Ed article on July 6 that it had not, and that the administration had twisted evidence to make the case for war in Iraq.

Eight days later, Novak wrote that it was Wilson's wife who had suggested sending him on the mission, implying that Wilson's trip was of minor importance.