The Obama administration and John McCain agree on investigating news leaks of national security secrets, but disagree as to how.
Attorney General Eric Holder has assigned two U.S. attorneys to look into the sources of stories about terrorist "kill lists" and cyber-attacks against Iran's nuclear program; McCain says he wants an independent probe.
"This investigation involves some of the most serious breaches of national security in recent memory and any investigation must be done in a manner free and clear of political considerations," said a statement from McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
The Justice Department announcement Friday night came hours after Obama said he found it "offensive" that lawmakers would suggest that the White House is leaking national security information to promote its political prospects.
"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," Obama said. "And so we don't play with that."
Obama did not specifically mention McCain, whom he defeated in the 2008 election.
While not citing specific stories -- so as not to confirm them -- Attorney General Holder said "the unauthorized disclosure of classified information can compromise the security of this country and all Americans, and it will not be tolerated."
Holder assigned Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, to direct separate probes with the help of the FBI.
Some background from The New York Times:
The Obama administration has already compiled an aggressive record of prosecuting people accused of leaking national security secrets. It has brought six such cases, compared with three under all previous presidents combined.
The recent disclosures included the revelation that a plot by the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda to bomb an airliner had been foiled because of penetration by a double agent, details about the joint American-Israeli computer virus called Stuxnet that sabotaged Iran's nuclear centrifuges, and an account of Mr. Obama's role in approving a "kill list" of terrorism suspects for drone strikes.
They include reports published by The New York Times, The Associated Press, Newsweek and other news media outlets, some of which were derived from recently published books by reporters for The Times and Newsweek.
They followed previous disclosures about the operation that located and killed Osama bin Laden, both in the aftermath of the raid and then again around its anniversary this spring.