On the recordMay 14, 2012
I can't thank the Senator enough. I am very worried about this leak. I was reading the London news clips, and as the Senator knows, I chair the Senate Intelligence Committee. I believe I can speak for the leadership of both committees in saying we have not been briefed. This has been very closely held because of the seriousness of the operation. And to see what is now in the papers, which essentially endangers the asset, puts him in fear of his life, tells our allies we cannot be trusted to carry out a mission without leaking that mission and also thereby alerting al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula that they need to increase their security to prevent penetration--it is, I think, the most serious leak certainly in the time I have been chairman of the committee. I thank the Senator for raising it and for the Senator's solidarity in that belief.
