Investigating everything but the real crime

So now the Justice Department is investigating who leaked the information that President Bush was breaking the law with unauthorized wiretaps of American citizens.

What next?

Based on today's NY Times story, it seems like the next logical step would be an investigation of who leaked the news of the investigation of the leak. The bold-faced language suggests someone else has leaked a secret. Meanwhile, no one appears to be investigating the real crime -- Bush's illegal wiretaps.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 - The Justice Department said on Friday that it had opened a criminal investigation into the disclosure of classified information about a secret National Security Agency program under which President Bush authorized eavesdropping on people in the United States without court warrants.

The investigation began in recent days after a formal referral from the security agency regarding the leak, federal officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the investigation.

Paul Soglin thinks the Bushies may come to regret the latest investigation, which has the potential to blow up in their faces. Soglin says:

It does come as a surprise that this NSA-requested investigation by the Justice Department is going forward in light of the fact that this could reveal the true nature of the criminal activities of the Bush Gangsters. This may take on all of the characteristics of the Nixon administration's handling of Daniel Ellsberg's leak of the Pentagon Papers. It certainly smells like it.