Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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I'm Not Gonna Tell You

Wednesday, October 10, 2001

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At a quick press conference with reporters, yesterday, the President was asked whether ground troops will be sent into Afghanistan.

His answer? "I'm not gonna tell you."

My reaction? Good.

The press corps has its job to do. The Washington-based press corps has a history - an ethic, really - about how it acts in briefings with major government officials.

The ethic does not call for them to be disrespectful. The press corps is very respectful. They are, however, the world's greatest pickers of nits. Maybe the solar system's best.

It is like someone becoming a cab driver in New York City. They think they HAVE TO drive that way because they are - driving a cab in New York City.

There is no indefinite article, no semi-colon, no single-quotation mark too minor for the White House press corps to try and use it to trap Ari Fleischer.

There is no intransitive verb, and no subordinate clause too minor for reporters covering the Pentagon to try to get Secretary Rumsfeld to reveal more than he wants to tell them.

This is done without malice. It is the game that is played in Washington - especially at the White House. Both sides are good at it and it keeps both sides more or less honest.

The President was upset because sensitive information which had been given to some Members of Congress on a Confidential basis, ended up in a newspaper.

The President issued a memo saying that, henceforth, the only Members of the House and Senate who would be fully briefed would be the House and Senate Leadership (on both sides) and the House and Senate Intelligence Committee chairs and ranking members.

The reporting which surrounded the memo on Monday did not make it clear which newspaper was involved - it appears now to have been the Washington Post - but it did suggest that reporters and/or editors did not print some items they had, after talking to the White House and being convinced doing so would put American men and women at serious risk.

Let's review the bidding here.

Members of Congress (House and Senate) were briefed by Administration officials. At least one Member couldn't keep the secrets and they got blabbed to the Washington Post.

Washington Post reporters, Susan Schmidt and the somewhat more famous Bob Woodward (and five other reporters who got "also contributed" credit), got a lot of information about military or other sensitive activities from this Hill source or sources.

The Post went to the White House with what it had, listened to the White House's position, and decided not to print everything it knew.

So, The Washington Post showed more restraint and judgment than Members of Congress.

Oh my. In one week I've congratulated Tom Daschle, Dick Gephardt, and the Washington Post. Everything HAS changed.

Not all reporters - like not all Members of Congress - will show this same level of restraint. Some reporters have granted themselves Priestly status merely because they hold a press credential from some organization.

Reporters have been heard to wonder aloud whether, if they found out about some enemy activity, they would tell US officials, hold it for publication or just maintain silence.

Tim Russert was discussing this on the air the other day. His take which, one assumes, echoes sentiments of a vast majority of senior reporters was: "In a heartbeat. I'm an American first. A journalist after that."

The leak to the Washington Post might have caused a great amount of damage to what the United States is trying to accomplish. The House and Senate leadership should, this very day, launch a full-scale investigation into who did the leaking.

If it was a staff member then that staff member got the information from a Member. If it was a Member then the buck stops there.

For years we have heard Representatives and Senators complaining that "the public" has lost confidence in its elected leadership, blaming it on everything from scandals to campaign finance reform.

Here's how to restore America's confidence in the Congress: (1) Find out who leaked the information. (2) Throw them out.

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