House intel chairman: Execute WikiLeaks soldier
A former Army officer who has called for the execution of a soldier charged with leaking classified documents has been tapped by Republicans to head the House Intelligence Committee next year.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who served three years in the Army in the late 1980s and is also a former FBI agent, was announced Wednesday as the next chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
In making the announcement, House Speaker-designate Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio cited Rogers’ experience as part of the reason he was picked. “As a former FBI Agent and U.S. Army Officer, Mike Rogers’ experience and expertise has proven invaluable,” Boehner said in a statement.
Commenting in early August about charges facing Army Spc. Bradley Manning, accused of being the source of classified military and diplomatic documents that have been posted on the website WikiLeaks, Rogers said in an interview with a Michigan radio staton that the “death penalty clearly should be considered here.”
“If they won’t charge him with treason, they ought to charge him with murder,” Rogers said.
