White House rejects calls for special counsel for national security leaks?

The White House on Thursday rejected congressional calls for a special counsel to investigate a spate of recent national-security leaks described as among the worst lawmakers have ever seen.

Members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees have been particularly angered, prompting a rare show of bipartisan fire against the administration.

“Leaks jeopardize American lives,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Thursday.

“I’ve been on the Intelligence Committee for 11 years and I have never seen it worse, I can tell you that,” Feinstein told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Wednesday in a separate interview.

Outrage has snowballed since Friday’s The New York Times story detailing the “Stuxnet” cyberattack against Iran, in which U.S. officials were cited as sources. Other leaks have led to stories about a terrorism “kill list” and a double agent in Yemen.

All three classified disclosures threaten national security, put U.S. interests at risk and reveal a disturbing trend in the intelligence community, according to lawmakers.

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Thursday said the president would not agree to appoint an independent counsel.