DATE=10/6/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH / CIA LEAK (S-Only)

NUMBER=2-308312

BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush says whoever disclosed to a reporter the name of a C-I-A officer whose husband has been critical of administration policy on Iraq will be held accountable. At the White House, Correspondent Nick Simeone reports, some two-thousand White House employees are facing a Tuesday deadline to turn over all relevant information they may have about a leak, which is now the subject of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

TEXT: President Bush is among those who would like to know who revealed the name of a C-I-A officer to syndicated columnist Robert Novak, an act which could be a crime, if it is found to have compromised a national security asset.

/// BUSH ACT ///

This is a serious charge by the way. We're talking about a criminal action. And, hopefully, we'll help send a clear signal, we expect other leaks to stop as well.

/// END ACT ///

The identity of the C-I-A officer was disclosed in a column by Mr. Novak in July. The employee's husband is former U-S Ambassador Joe Wilson, who says he believes his wife's identity was revealed to punish him for criticizing the intelligence used by the Bush administration before the war in Iraq. The former ambassador was dispatched to Niger before the Iraq war to look into claims Baghdad was trying to acquire uranium from the African nation, but found the claims not to be credible.

A White House spokesman says anyone in the Bush administration who is found to have disclosed the identity of the C-I-A employee will be fired. (SIGNED)

NEB/NJS/KL/TW