For almost a year and a half, there was no progress in the Bush Administration's attempts top find the leaker of the warrantless surveillance program. I actually wrote a diary about the lack of progress in this investigation last Thursday. Then this morning, I read an article in the August 13, 2007 issue of Newsweek that reveals a suspect in the case.
The controversy over President Bush's warrantless surveillance program took another surprise turn last week when a team of FBI agents, armed with a classified search warrant, raided the suburban Washington home of a former Justice Department lawyer. The lawyer, Thomas M. Tamm, previously worked in Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR)—the supersecret unit that oversees surveillance of terrorist and espionage targets. The agents seized Tamm's desktop computer, two of his children's laptops and a cache of personal files.
This development in the controversy got me thinking about the blogsphere's new "Deepthroat" who appeared on TPM Muckraker. Could the former Justice Department lawyer, Thomas Tamm, be this person?
Residentcynic's diary Blogosphere's "Deepthroat" Emerges shows some of the comments posted by the whistleblower, which show a strong understanding of the departments, policies, and processes involved as well as some sensitive information that could only be known by an insider.
It seems possible that the DOJ was notified about the postings at TPM Muckraker and traced them back to Thomas Tamm's house. That is why they confiscated his computer and his children's laptops, all likely using the same Internet service provider.
This investigation by the Bush Administration has been quiet for almost a year and a half, and suddenly when more information is revealed through blog postings, it kicks into high gear again.
The timing makes me think the two are related.