President Obama angrily denied today that his White House team is the source of national security leaks on alleged terrorist "kill lists" and cyber attacks against Iran's nuclear program.
"The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive," Obama said at a brief White House news conference. "It's wrong."
He said his policy is one of "zero tolerance for these kinds of leaks and speculation," adding: "If we can root out folks who have leaked, they will suffer consequences ... we will conduct thorough investigations as we have in the past."
Obama also noted that, in some cases. "these are criminal acts."
Democratic as well as Republican leaders of Congress' intelligence committees have decried the leaks, which Republican Sen. John McCain has charged were an effort to build up Obama's national security credentials before November's election.
Republican lawmakers are incensed are about recent published stories, including U.S. cyber-attacks on Iran's nuclear program and a once-secret "kill list" that targets specific terrorist suspects.
The information for these reports is based on classified information.
Obama suggested that not all of the details in the stories are true, and that they may undermine U.S. security.
"When this information or reports -- whether true or false -- surface on the front page of newspapers, that makes the job of folks on the front line tougher," Obama said. "And it makes my job tougher. Which is why since I've been in office my attitude has been zero tolerance for these kinds of leaks and speculation."
Obama also said: "We're dealing with issues that can touch on the safety and security of the American people, our families or our military personnel or our allies, and so we don't play with that."
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has promised hearings on the leaks.
The bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees have written Obama to complain about the disclosures. And both McCain and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., top Republican on the intelligence panel, have called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate.