WH spox Jay Carney is still under the impression this admin is "most transparent admin in history."

From today's press briefing:
Q Jay, on the concerns about the leaks of national security information, has the President issued any kind of directive recently calling for greater sensitivity in handling classified information on national security matters?

MR. CARNEY: Well, we are not going to comment on any of the specific information that was contained in the article that brought this issue to the forefront. As a general matter, to address your question, the President feels very strongly that we much prevent leaks of classified or sensitive information that could risk ongoing counterterrorism or intelligence operations.

This administration takes all appropriate and necessary steps to prevent leaks of classified information or sensitive information that could risk ongoing counterterrorism or intelligence operations. Any suggestion that the White House has leaked sensitive information for political purposes has no basis in fact and has been denied by the authors themselves, as one of the authors of The New York Times story on Obama's counterterrorism record said, "The notion that the White House prompted the story or controlled our reporting and writing is absurd."

Q And what about these investigations --

Q (Inaudible.)

MR. CARNEY: One of your colleagues. One of the authors of the story.

Q What about these investigations? Is the White House going to fully cooperate with these investigations?

MR. CARNEY: I know there was a press conference today and I just don't have enough information about it. But this President is fully committed to preventing leaks of classified information, as well as sensitive information that could jeopardize our counterterrorism efforts. And that policy and that approach is communicated widely through the White House and the administration.

Q There have been calls from Congress for an independent counsel to investigate that. Is that something the President would agree to?

MR. CARNEY: No. As I said, the President takes this very seriously. I refer you to agencies that are tasked with investigating these kinds of matter. And, again, this is something that the President insists that his administration take all appropriate and necessary steps to prevent leaks of classified information or sensitive information that could risk our counterterrorism operations.

Q Jay, on the flipside of this, on the leaks issue, how does the President feel about all the attention to the fact that his -- despite his 2008 campaign promising transparency and attacking some of the practices of the Bush administration on national security, that he has surpassed all past administrations, for instance, in prosecution of people suspected of leaking information, and in general, the activities in the region of which you will not confirm --

MR. CARNEY: You're covering a lot of topics, Jackie. I would say two things. One, the President has demonstrated his commitment to transparency through the variety of steps he has taken, unprecedented in American presidential administration history, to enhance transparency.

But he is also President and Commander-in-Chief, and he will not countenance the leaking of classified information that can harm our men and women in uniform, harm Americans who work on our national security, harm counterterrorism operations. I mean, I think that you have an absolute obligation as President to take that position and I think he is committed to both propositions.


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