US intelligence chief James Clapper has asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the leaks about its electronic surveillance programs, NBC News reported today.
"For me, it is literally gut-wrenching to see this happening because of the huge grave damage it does to our intelligence capabilities," Clapper said in an excerpt of an interview with the television network.
"For me this is a key tool for preserving protecting the nation's safety and security."
Yesterday, Clapper declassified details about the surveillance as he offered a vigorous defense of the intelligence-gathering, saying the activities were legal and subjected to extensive oversight by the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
Bombshell leaks by The Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper this week exposed PRISM, a programme to gather data trails left by targeted foreign citizens using the Internet outside the United States.
