US Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald Machen and US Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein will lead separate criminal investigation into recent national security leaks.
“In carrying out their assignments, US Attorneys Machen and Rosenstein are fully authorized to prosecute criminal violations discovered as a result of their investigations and matters related to those violations, consult with members of the intelligence community, and follow all appropriate investigative leads within the executive and legislative branches of government”, Holder said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the attorney general received a hostile reception from Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the appointment of US attorney to probe the leaks. Republican senators favor appoint of a special counsel to lead an independent investigation.
“Given the potential conflicts of interest with the department investigating itself, the past failures of the Justice Department to prosecute their own who admitted to classified leaks, and the attorney general’s own tepid responses to my past questions about leak prosecutions, I believe the only way to truly get to the bottom of these dangerous leaks is to appoint an independent special prosecutor”, said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee lead Republican, during the hearing.