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The Honorable Patrick Fitzgerald United States Attorney United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois 219 S. Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60604 Dear Mr. Fitzgerald: We are writing to inform you of the existence of information potentially vital to your investigation of the leak of a CIA operative name. A person in the White House briefing room who had access to a memo revealing the operative's name also kept a journal of his days covering the White House. We bring this to your attention because we believe your office may need to subpoena the journal to further the work of the grand jury. As many people are aware, James Guckert (a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon") posed as a journalist and gained entry to the White House briefing room. He also may have had access to documents that leaked the name of the CIA operative. In an October 2003 interview with Joseph C. Wilson IV, the husband of the operative, Mr. Guckert referenced a memo written by U.S. intelligence officials indicating the operative suggested Mr. Wilson could investigate reports that Iraq had sought uranium. In and of itself, this indicates that Mr. Guckert had access to classified information. It appears now that Mr. Guckert memorialized his experiences at the White House. In the February 22, 2005 edition of Editor & Publisher, a publication for the newspaper industry, Mr. Guckert states that he "'probably has one page for each day at the White House, about 200 pages of stuff... Is it all interesting? Probably not. But it could be [a book].'" It would be unfortunate if Mr. Guckert published information that would be useful to your investigation, such as the identity of the person who gave him the memo, without your office having the benefit of its contents. If we can provide further information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Louise Slaughter Ranking Member House Rules Committee John Conyers, Jr. Ranking Member House Judiciary Committee The Honorable David M. Walker Comptroller General U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20548 Dear Mr. Walker, We write today to expand on a recent request you received on January 11, 2005 from Representative Louise Slaughter and other members of the Democratic Leadership. While that letter asked you to investigate the illegal use of appropriated money to covertly advocate for seven different programs, we ask that you also investigate whether the Administration violated the ban on prepackaged news stories by siphoning print stories to James D. Guckert, also known as "Jeff Gannon." As you stated in your February 17, 2005 letter to agency and department heads, it is illegal for the Administration to use appropriated money to broadcast or publish propaganda without taking credit for it. According to recent press, the White House itself directly violated this ban when it gave prepackaged print stories to Mr. Guckert, which he reprinted wholesale without disclosing that the Administration authored it. As mentioned in your letter, you have already ruled that agencies authoring newspaper articles and op-ed pieces to be published as a reporter's original work clearly violates this ban. This is precisely what transpired between the White House and Mr. Guckert. I look forward to hearing whether you will be incorporating Mr. Guckert's and the White House's propaganda efforts into any investigations you will be conducting. Please contact us with any questions. Sincerely, Louise Slaughter Ranking Member, House Rules Committee John Conyers, Jr. Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee

Originally published on Wednesday February 23, 2005.