WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) – The White House and a leading
Republican senator accused each other of being “grossly
irresponsible” on Wednesday in connection with a recent series
of leaks of national security data.

White House spokesman Jay Carney denied allegations made by
Senator John McCain a day earlier that the apparent leaks by
administration officials must have been politically motivated to
boost President Barack Obama’s stature ahead of his attempted
re-election this fall.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As the FBI opened a probe into alleged leaks about U.S. cyber attacks on Iran, two prominent Republican senators on Tuesday called for a special counsel to investigate what they called a “pattern” of disclosures of classified information by the Obama administration.

The FBI probe, according to a U.S. government official who spoke on condition of anonymity, will investigate who allegedly leaked classified details to the New York Times of a secret U.S.-Israeli cyber warfare program aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee expressed doubt on Friday that Russia could be convinced to help ease Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad out of power.

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said she hoped the Obama administration would be able to use diplomacy to “get Russia to do the right thing” – at least by stopping arms sales to Assad’s government, which is using deadly force against an uprising in Syria.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers are investigating a billing dispute of at least $750 million between the main supplier of food to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the Pentagon.

The Pentagon says Supreme Foodservice GmbH overcharged it, but the Netherlands-headquartered company said the rates were properly based on the complexities and dangers of supplying food in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The lawmakers are investigating a billing dispute of at least $750 million between the main supplier of food to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the Pentagon.

The Pentagon says Supreme Foodservice GmbH overcharged it, but the Netherlands-headquartered company said the rates were properly based on the complexities and dangers of supplying food in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the Secret Service, in his first public appearance since a scandal involving Colombian prostitutes and his employees, apologized for the misconduct on Wednesday but lawmakers expressed doubt that this was an isolated incident.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, gray-haired in a blue striped suit and tie, faced the Senate Homeland Security Committee and asserted that the behavior of a dozen employees in Cartagena last month did not reflect the culture of the agency.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prostitution scandal in Colombia involving U.S. Secret Service employees did not result in any security breach and was not behaviour that reflected the high ethical standards of the agency, the director of the agency said.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan defended the culture of the agency in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying its employees were among the most dedicated and “self-sacrificing” in the federal government. It will be his first public appearance before Congress since the scandal.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prostitution scandal in Colombia involving U.S. Secret Service employees did not result in any security breach and was not behavior that reflected the high ethical standards of the agency, the director of the agency said.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan defended the culture of the agency in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying its employees were among the most dedicated and “self-sacrificing” in the federal government. It will be his first public appearance before Congress since the scandal.

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate panel on
Tuesday voted to eliminate funding for a police training program
for Iraq, saying the danger and expense were just too great
after the American troop pullout last year.

“Why keep throwing good money after bad?” asked Senator
Patrick Leahy, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate
appropriations subcommittee on foreign aid.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate unanimously approved on Monday a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector just days ahead of a meeting in Baghdad between major world powers and Tehran.

The sanctions add to a raft of punitive measures by the United States and the European Union aimed at shrinking Iran’s oil revenues to force it to halt a nuclear program the West suspects is being used to build an atomic bomb.