Pair found guilty of leaking memo that made Bush look like a 'madman'

The Daily Mail
May. 10, 2007

A civil servant and an MP's researcher were today found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act after leaking an 'extremely sensitive' memo detailing talks on Iraq between Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush.

The four-page document was passed by Cabinet Office communications officer David Keogh to Leo O'Connor, who worked for anti-war Labour MP Anthony Clarke.

Its contents were considered so explosive that much of the trial was held behind closed doors so the public could not hear them.

Keogh, who believed it exposed Mr Bush as a "madman", hoped it could be used to raise questions in the House of Commons and also wanted it to be passed on to US presidential candidate John Kerry.

O'Connor placed it in Mr Clarke's constituency papers but the Northampton South MP handed it in to Downing Street and an investigation was launched, leading to an Old Bailey trial.

During legal argument it emerged that Mr Blair wrote a letter personally thanking Mr Clarke for the return of the memo.

Keogh, O'Connor and Mr Clarke had all been members of a now-defunct political dining club in Northampton, where they all lived.

A jury today found both Keogh, 50, and O'Connor, 44, guilty of making a damaging disclosure under the Official Secrets Act.

The pair will be sentenced on Thursday.