WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A group of 10 former U.S. intelligence officers has asked Congress to investigate into last summer's leak of an agent's name, the New York Times said Thursday.
Their request was outlined in a letter to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and others, and reflects concern that a 4-month-old Justice Department investigation into the matter may never identify who was behind the disclosure.
The syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who first identified Valerie Plame as a CIA officer in a column last July, identified his sources only as Bush administration officials.
In the letter, the former officers called on Congress to act "for the good of the country" and said it was time to "send an unambiguous message that the intelligence officers tasked with collecting or analyzing intelligence must never be turned into political punching bags."
There is suspicion, under investigation by the Justice Department, the disclosure was made by someone in the White House to punish Plames's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, for opposing administration policy on Iraq.
