| | Federal investigators who conduct background checks of Defense officials have been asking if those people have had contact with the news media, apparently veering off the script for conducting national security reviews. The questioning has alarmed good-government activists, who see it as an attempt to intimidate government officials from speaking with reporters. Meanwhile, the head of the agency that conducts background checks for access to secret information says there has been no directive issued to investigators on news-media contacts and that a few rogue investigators may be at fault.
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