The FBI is investigating who in the U.S. government may have leaked information about the double agent responsible for infiltrating Al Qaeda in Yemen and volunteering to go on a suicide mission to blow up an airplane headed for America.

Robert Mueller, the FBI’s director, said an investigation of the leaks to the media is underway. The leaks put lives at risk and hurt U.S. relations with foreign partners, he said ^[1] at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. Last month, details of the agent’s role in the bomb plot were reported by the Associated Press and other news organizations. The agent, whose identity has not been disclosed, was working with the CIA and British and Saudi Arabian intelligence agencies. In his role, the agent was able to hand over the bomb for review and provide detailed information on the Yemen-based group, according to a report ^[2] in the New York Times. The media leak has roiled intelligence leaders in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia, according to reports ^[3].

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has called for prosecution ^[4] of the leaker.

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FBI Director Robert Mueller testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 16, 2012.

Mueller said the impacts of the leaks will be felt in the long term, which is “why it is important to make sure those responsible for the leaks are brought to justice.”

The director also updated the Senate committee on other ongoing investigations, including the federal probe of JP Morgan and the killing of U.S. Border Agent Brian Terry.

Mueller said the FBI has opened a preliminary investigation into the nation’s largest bank, after it announced ^[6] last week it suffered $2 billion in trading losses.

Terry was killed in a shootout with bandits near the Mexican border in 2010. Two of the firearms recovered at the shooutout were linked to the failed gun-tracing operation known as Fast and Furious. The Justice Department has since called the operation “flawed” and has halted similar gun-tracking investigations. Congress, though, has continued to press ^[7] Attorney General Eric Holder on how the investigation was handled.

Mueller confirmed that the FBI investigation of Terry’s death is ongoing and “very active.”