(Newser)
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Barack Obama vehemently denied that his administration was behind any recent national security leaks today, as Congress turned up the heat on the issue. "The notion that the White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive, it's wrong, and people, I think, need to have a better sense of how I approach this office," Obama said, according to CNN, responding to John McCain's accusation that recent leaks had come from the White House.
All four intelligence committee leaders held a bipartisan press conference yesterday vowing legislation cracking down on leaks, the Hill reports. House Chair Mike Rogers said he wanted to "make sure that leaker goes to jail," and called for a special prosecutor, arguing that the leaks are "a hundred times the magnitude" of the Valerie Plame case. But Dianne Feinstein and ranking House Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger say talk of a special prosecutor is premature—though Ruppersberger promised to "follow the facts wherever they go."
