The National Reconnaissance Office has asked the Justice Department to consider opening a criminal investigation into recent disclosures about a highly classified satellite program that has prompted criticism in Congress because of escalating costs, two administration officials said yesterday.
The Justice Department and the FBI are reviewing the request to determine whether classified information was leaked and whether there is enough evidence to support a criminal probe, officials said.
 
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The request from the NRO, which manages spy satellite programs, comes after reports in The Washington Post and other publications about a stealth satellite program under debate in Congress. The Post on Saturday reported details of the program and said its cost has ballooned from $5 billion to $9.5 billion. The New York Times published an article on the program Sunday. The request for a Justice Department review was first reported by the Associated Press.
The satellite project was debated in closed hearings on Capitol Hill, but some lawmakers took the unusual step of complaining publicly about the program's relevance and cost, without identifying the program or describing it in any detail. Four Democratic senators refused to sign "conference sheets" related to the 2005 intelligence authorization bill, reportedly to protest the program.
The NRO's request marks the latest in a series of high-profile federal inquiries related to leaks of classified or sensitive information, including an ongoing probe into whether Bush administration officials illegally identified a covert CIA operative to reporters in the summer of 2003.
Under normal operating procedures, an agency that believes there has been a leak of classified information has its general counsel file a referral with the Justice Department. The department then turns the matter over to the FBI for investigation.
The first step in the process is for the originating agency to complete an 11-part questionnaire that includes the identification of the specifics of the leaked information, the manner of its protection, the damage the leak may have caused and the individuals with access to the information. The satellite program has been discussed for more than two years on Capitol Hill, and the number of individuals in the executive and legislative branches who are aware of it is extensive.
It is only after reviewing the agency's response to the questionnaire that the Justice Department decides whether an investigation is worth pursuing, according to administration sources.
On Tuesday, Sen. Carl M. Levin (Mich.), ranking Democrat on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee, told reporters he did not believe from what he had read "that disclosure was improper."
Levin added that the report he read "was very general" and that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) "had made in a very general way, a similar reference to a classified program."
