You may or may not remember that back in early June, Attorney General Eric Holder named two U.S. Attorneys to oversee investigations into leaks of classified information.
While his announcement did not specify which particular information leak was being investigated, the preceding weeks had seen “reports of a U.S.-led cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program, stories about Obama’s involvement in authorizing deadly drone strikes and reports that the U.S. infiltrated an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group plotting an attack on a U.S. airliner.” Some Republicans on Capitol Hill alleged that the White House was leaking the information to make the president look better on national security in the middle of a hard-fought presidential campaign.
Holder tapped U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Ronald Machen and U.S. Attorney for Maryland Rod Rosenstein. At the time, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) argued, “The only reason these U.S. Attorneys were assigned to the investigation is because of their proximity to where the conduct likely occurred.” Some other Republicans were bothered that Machen had donated money to Obama’s campaigns in the past.
This morning I called Machen spokesman Bill Miller for an update. He said that no indictments or charges have been filed, but the investigation is ongoing. Because it is ongoing, he could not specify how many staff were working on it, or whether the investigation was intensifying or winding down.