Government indicts former CIA officer for leaks of classfied information to journalists

The Justice Department  is charging a former intelligence officer with leaking classified information to a journalist. The leaks included the names of covert officers and their work in apprehending terrorist suspects. The officer is charged with divulging to a New York Times reporter the contact information and details of activities of a covert CIA operative. [...]

Opinion: WikiLeaks made significant contributions to the right to know

WikiLeaks has changed the face of journalism and contributed more scoops this year than any other media outlet, reports Trevor Timm in a commentary for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In using the Espionage Act to prosecute WikiLeaks, the federal government poses a real threat to the mainsream media and the First Amendment, argues Timm. -db [...]

Challenge to federal appeals court’s extending Espionage Act to unclassified info

An effort is underway to challenge a federal court ruling that extended the application of the Espionage Act to unclassified, non-governmental information. An attorney for a man convicted on charges of economic espionage filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming the conviction for “gathering national defense information” was unjust in that [...]

Whistleblower gets plea deal, dodges espionage conviction

A former employee of the National Security Agency, Thomas A. Drake, charged with espionage for leaking classified information, struck a deal with the Justice Department admitting to a misdemeanor of using NSA’s computers to to provide information to a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. It is expected that Drake will not have to serve any [...]

Espionage Act: Washington Post questions charges against former government employee

Justice Department prosecutors are trying Thomas Drake, a former employee of the National Security Agency, for violation of the Espionage Act after Drake talked to a Baltimore Sun reporter about a program he thought was wasting billions of taxpayer dollars. A Washington Post editorial argues that the indictment and proposed punishment are not proportionate to [...]

New Yorker article critical of Obama administration in prosecuting whistleblower

The Justice Department is charging Thomas Drake, a former National Security Agency executive, with espionage for taking top-secret documents from N.S.A. offices and leaking information to a Baltimore Sun reporter. The reporter, Siobhan Gorman, wrote a prize-winning series of stories about waste, mismanagement, and dubious legal practices in the agency’s counter terrorism programs. New Yorker [...]

Opinion: Assange’s extradition to U.S. brings First Amendment protection

A former general consul of The New York Times writes that if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is extradited to Sweden, he may soon after be dispatched to the United States and put on trial for leaking classified documents. But once in the U.S., Assange, like his publisher, The New York Times, would enjoy the protection [...]

Sunshine Week: EFF says in the era of WikiLeaks still need whistleblowers and FOIA

A staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation says that WiliLeaks dramatic release of classified government documents aside, it still crucial to government accountability for people working within government to come forth with stories of excesses and for citizens to exercise their rights under freedom of information laws. EFF’s Jennifer Lynch lists some recent cases [...]

Senate bill would criminalize leaking classified information

A Democratic senator introduced a bill to make it a felony for a government employee or contractor to disclose classified information to an unauthorized person. Existing law only criminalizes information including codes, cryptography, intelligence communication, identities of cover agents and nuclear weapons design information. In Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood argues, “And at a time when [...]

Air Force backpedals on warning about accessing WikiLeaks website

After the Air Force command said Air Force employees and family members could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act if they signed onto the WikiLeaks web site containing classified U.S. government documents, the command rescinded the warning. A statement from Air Force headquarters said the internal news story had been removed the the Air Force [...]

Man charged with espionage uses First Amendment defense

A former foreign policy analyst under indictment for espionage filed motions to dismiss the charges arguing that the charges violate his First Amendment right to talk with the press. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press February 2, 2011 By Kacey Deame A defendant charged with espionage for allegedly leaking “national defense information” [...]

WikiLeaks stumbles over arrangements with The Guardian for publication of classified documents

Vanity Fair February 2011 By Sarah Ellison In Vanity Fair’s February issue, Sarah Ellison reports that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange recently found himself in a cauldron of irony as he threatened The Guardian with a lawsuit if it published U.S. military classified documents leaked from WikiLeaks without his approval. The Guardian claimed that their agreement [...]

Wikileaks: Congressional Research Service says publishing Afghan war diaries not criminal

Although Wikileaks’ foreign editors might be prosecuted under U.S. law for obtaining classified military records, it was not unlawful to publish the information, concluded a report from the Congressional Research Service. -db Secrecy News Analysis September 27, 2010 By Steven Aftergood When Wikileaks published tens of thousands of classified U.S. military records concerning the war [...]

Obama administration asks allies to drop hammer on WikiLeaks

The Obama administration has asked Britain, Germany, Australia, and other countries to consider bringing criminal charges against the WikiLeaks founder for providing the media with classified documents on the Afghan war. -db The Daily Beast August 10, 2010 By Philip Shenon The Obama administration is pressing Britain, Germany, Australia, and other allied Western governments to [...]

Obama said to be tougher than Bush in prosecuting for leaks to the media

The Obama administration is vigorously investigating and prosecuting officials leaking information to the press including a veteran intelligence official who considers himself a loyal citizen and a whistle blower but now faces  federal charges for mishandling classified information. -db The New York Times June 11, 2010 By Scott Shane WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hired in 2001 [...]