Pat Roberts, again

In the Post below, I point to the role of Pat Roberts in avoiding congressional oversight of NSA wiretapping, and in seeking to authorize the NSA actions.

This story in the Washington Post sheds more light on his efforts to help the administration:

Senator May Seek Tougher Law on Leaks
Intelligence Chairman Roberts Says Measure Vetoed by Clinton Could Be Model

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 17, 2006; Page A04

The chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said yesterday that he may add language to the fiscal 2007 intelligence authorization bill to criminalize the leaking of a wider range of classified information than is now covered by law. He indicated the new measure would be similar to legislation vetoed by President Bill Clinton more than five years ago.

The statement by Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) comes as Bush administration is campaigning against leaks and focusing on the people who receive and distribute them, including journalists.

The Justice Department for the first time is prosecuting two people who are not government officials for receiving and distributing classified national defense information told to them by a Pentagon employee

This of course would make it harder for citizens to become aware of government actions. The Pentagon Papers case in 1971 addressed the press's right to publish without prior restraint, but locking up a few people who pass along information will reduce that leaking.

That seems to be the point. From later in the article:

In 2002, with George W. Bush in the White House, Shelby reintroduced his language, but then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said that "rigorous investigation" and enforcement of existing laws -- not new legislation -- were the best way to fight leaks.

A lawyer familiar with the AIPAC case said administration officials "want this case as a precedent so they can have it in their arsenal" and added: "This as a weapon that can be turned against the media."