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Two U.S. attorneys have been tasked with finding out if there's any truth to rumours the White House leaked classified information to help the President's national security reputation. In a statement released late Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the appointment of Ronald C. Machen Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, to lead already launched FBI probes of possibly leaked information from the White House to reporters.
In his statement announcing the appointments, Eric Holder assured that Machen and Rosenstein, "are fully authorized to prosecute criminal violations discovered as a result of their investigations and matters related to those violations," and that they'll, "follow all appropriate investigative leads within the executive and legislative branches of government." The Washington Post reports prosecutors from the Justice Department’s National Security Division will also be assisting the investigation.
Which stories the investigations are focusing on is unclear. The Justice Department won't comment on which leaks they're investigating because it would indicate which stories contain accurate classified information. It's suspected the investigations are focusing on the recent Obama's "kill list" and CIA cyber attacks stories published in The New York Times.