November 22, 2006
House Staff Member Cleared in Inquiry on Leak of Iraq Intelligence Estimate
By SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 — A Democratic staff member of the House intelligence committee has been cleared of wrongdoing by a Republican-led leak investigation and reinstated in his position, committee officials said Tuesday.

The staff member, Larry Hanauer, was suspended last month from access to classified materials at the direction of the committee’s chairman, Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan.

Mr. Hoekstra said at the time that he thought Mr. Hanauer might have been a source for an article on Sept. 24 in The New York Times about a National Intelligence Estimate saying the Iraq war had become a cause célèbre for terrorists.

Mr. Hanauer had obtained a copy of the classified study at the request of a Democratic panel member, Representative John F. Tierney of Massachusetts, shortly before it was described in the article.

Democrats on the committee protested that the accusation was groundless and unfair and that Mr. Hanauer had merely properly responded to a routine request from a member.

They said Mr. Hoekstra’s action was payback for a decision by the committee’s ranking Democrat, Representative Jane Harman of California, to release a report by an outside counsel into actions on the committee by former Representative Randy Cunningham, a California Republican now serving a prison term for taking bribes.

A spokesman for the panel, Jamal D. Ware, confirmed that “the suspended staff member has had his accesses restored at the committee,” a development first reported on Tuesday by The Washington Post.

A Congressional official who insisted on anonymity said the internal inquiry, conducted by committee lawyers, involved having Mr. Hanauer sign an affidavit and answer questions.

In a statement, Ms. Harman said, “All of us are pleased that our valued staff member is back at work and that this meritless inquiry is over.”

Mr. Hanauer’s lawyer, Jonathan Turley, said Mr. Hanauer had been vilified on the Web and by anonymous callers, some of whom threatened him, called him a traitor and said he should face a firing squad.

“We are grateful that this long nightmare for Larry and his family is now over,” Mr. Turley said. “It is regrettable that it took this long, given the total absence of any evidence linking Larry to the New York Times articles.”

The Times had previously reported that its article was based on interviews with more than 10 government officials and outside specialists.