WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Justice Department investigators will begin interviews within days to determine who leaked a CIA agent's identity, the Washington Post said Friday.
"We will move quickly to interview likely suspects in the next few days," an official said. He declined to provide names but said the first interviews will be with officials whose names have appeared in news reports as possible sources of the information.
Justice officials said they plan to add the Defense and State departments to the list of agencies that will be the focus of the criminal investigation. Officials in those departments will be sent letters, like the one the White House received this week, asking them to preserve phone logs, e-mail and other records that could relate to the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
At his Thursday news briefing, White House press secretary Scott McClellan condemned what he called Democrats' efforts to "sensationalize this issue."
"Unfortunately, there are some that are looking through the lens of political opportunism," he said.
