WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The investigation into disclosure of a CIA undercover agent's identity is in the hands of a man who has chased some of the nation's most notorious spies.
John Dion, a 30-year Justice Department lawyer and head of the 12-attorney Counterespionage Section, is leading the inquiry to determine whether Bush administration officials leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame's name, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, contends White House political operatives disclosed her name to punish him for accusing the administration of manipulating intelligence in the lead-up to the war against Iraq and to chill other would-be critics.
Democrats continued to insist an outside special counsel was needed to investigate the matter.
Dion has been involved in major espionage cases, from FBI spies Robert Hanssen and Earl Edwin Pitts to CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames and the breakup of the Walker family spy ring that sold military secrets to the Soviets.
