"U.S. EPA senior policy analyst Hugh Kaufman, a kind of living legend in the world of federal whistleblowers, was disappointed this week when he read of California Republican Darrell Issa's plans to make the Wikileaks controversy a top issue for his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the 112th Congress.

But not for the reasons you might expect.

Kaufman, who served six years in the Air Force before leaving as a captain to join the fledgling EPA in 1971, said there may be a reason to investigate the Wikileaks scandal to protect national security. But he objects to Issa's planned hearings because he believes the Oversight panel's chairman is turning a committee that is supposed to serve as Congress' watchdog into a panel for partisan witch hunts."

John McArdle reports for Greenwire January 6, 2011. [2]