Investigation Update

Wow, an actual update:

Prosecutors are pursuing “everybody — at pretty high levels, too,” said one person familiar with the investigation. “There are many people who’ve been contacted from different agencies.”

For those not following along, there's supposed to be an investigation into who leaked national security information to the NY Times and AP last year about Iran and Yemen.  Few if any reporters have reported on it between June 2012 and now, including through the election season.  Suddenly we have a mention.

The WaPo goes on to make this chilling point, coming on the beginnings of a second term:

“People are feeling less open to talking to reporters given this uptick,” said a person with knowledge of Machen’s inquiry. “There is a definite chilling effect in government due to these investigations.”

Of course, the story itself was leaked by anonymous sources, so it's not chilling everyone.

Speculation time. It's somewhat strange the story is now reappearing at a time when the Obama cabinet is in the process of a reshuffle. The Pentagon also seems to be reshuffling. Just a few days ago it was announced that former spook John Kiriakou was sentenced to the same prison time for violating the IIPA that Scooter Libby got for lying--30 months (has it been mentioned that Kiriakou worked in Secretary of State nominee John Kerry's Senate office lately?).

Kiriakou outed a CIA officer connected with the GITMO detainees to a reporter working with attorneys/reporters to free them based on the use of "torture".  Showing that it's a small world after all, Attorney General Eric Holder's former law firm, Covington&Burling represents a bunch of those detainees. C&B seems to be a revolving door.

Ironically, KSM and friends are scheduled for another pre-trial hearing next week with a new wrinkle just announced that might act to drag out the trail even further. 2015, perhaps?  Anyway, it's always hard to tell exactly what's going on with his stuff but maybe somebody somewhere has decided it's time to make this investigation story reappear by leaking about it to the WaPo.  There's usually a reason.