This report is appearing all over the place, but here’s MSNBC’s version :

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation to see who disclosed details about a secret domestic eavesdropping operation, department officials said Friday.

“We are opening an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials related to the NSA,” one official said, referring to the National Security Agency.
. . .
“There is a process that goes on inside the Justice Department about leaks, and I presume that process is moving forward,” the president said at a yearend news conference on Dec. 19.

“My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war,” he added. “The fact that we’re discussing this program is helping the enemy.”

I know you guys will do everything in your power to ensure that news doesn’t hurt Junior’s feelings, but after reading five or six articles on this and seeing the coverage by CNN, I can’t help but think that you’re collectively avoiding the use of the word “whistleblower“.

Which is odd since it’s obvious to everyone that the President’s domestic spying program is illegal. That’s not the opinion of some pissed off blogger either. It’s a demonstrable fact that it’s a crime for the President to order wiretaps without judicial oversight. Pointing this out isn’t petty partisan politics, it’s keeping the public informed. People who make a living of reporting and interpreting the news should be able to make this distinction.

So when you’re regurgitating some Bush Administration blowback from the Justice Department, it would be nice if you remembered the context of the story and realized that this is an attempt to go after someone who revealed criminal activity by the President. While the Administration is probably correct that the whistleblower violated the law, they aren’t exactly neutral observers here.