US lawmakers have denounced leaks to media organisations that revealed how the CIA disrupted an al-Qaeda plot through a spy who had infiltrated the terror group, saying the release of such details could jeopardise sensitive intelligence work.
The tale of high-risk intrigue and stealth conjured up a script from a Hollywood thriller, but members of Congress and intelligence veterans were angered by the disclosures yesterday.
Amid calls for a congressional investigation, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper ordered an internal review to find out if the leaks came from any of the 16 spy agencies under his authority, CNN reported.
Lawmakers from both parties voiced dismay that elements of the operation were reported by US media only hours after a drone strike on a key Al-Qaeda figure and as FBI experts examined an explosive meant to bring down a US-bound airliner.
"I don't think those leaks should have happened. There was an operation in progress and I think the leak is regarded as very serious," Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Tuesday.
The Democrat promised a congressional investigation of the episode, a view shared by her Republican counterparts.
"If something bad happens because it was leaked too early, that's a catastrophe and it's also a crime," Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN.
Amid a heated presidential election campaign, Rogers and fellow Republican lawmakers suggested the leaks may have been politically motivated to burnish President Barack Obama's image.
Republicans already have accused the White House of triumphalism for high-profile media events this month marking the death of Osama bin Laden, in which the president and his deputies gave television interviews recounting the secret commando raid last year that killed the Al-Qaeda chief.