Information Leaks

On April 6, 2012 we heard a former CIA officer was charged with leaking confidential information to journalists. And let’s not forget about Bradley Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, who in January 2012 was charged with disclosing more than 260,000 diplomatic cables, more than 90,000 intelligence reports on the war in Afghanistan and one video of a military helicopter attack (much of it classified) to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

On June 9 the US Attorney General said he was going after those leaking government secrets (we can’t have countries not willing to work with us). The Baltimore Sun on June 13 said: Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and the other leaders of Congress' intelligence committees this week issued a strong, bi-partisan statement of condemnation for recent leaks of classified information about America's clandestine operations abroad, including its cyber-warfare against Iran and drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. Republicans have also criticized the administration for disclosing details of the Navy SEAL team that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan hideout last year. They promised new legislation to clamp down on leaks that they say can endanger Americans.

Sen. John McCain went further, alleging that the Obama administration has engaged in a double standard on leaking; aggressively prosecuting low-level leakers while tolerating or even encouraging high-level leaks of information that could bolster the president's re-election prospects. "Our intelligence people say this is the worst breach they've ever seen," Senator John McCain, senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "It's very clear that this information had to come from this administration. It couldn't have come from anywhere else," McCain said. "This needs a special counsel - someone who is highly independent of the Justice Department."

There is no doubt that the White House's attitude about leaking classified material during this administration and others has been selective. President Obama, who promised transparency when running for office, has prosecuted more leakers than all of his predecessors combined. But his administration has also disclosed details of drone strikes on al-Qaida operatives, even though they are run under classified CIA programs. The Bush administration likewise leaked intelligence information that bolstered its case for war in Iraq. Later, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, was convicted for his role in outing covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, another leak that served a political purpose. Classified information should not be used as a political tool.

On the June 12 NPR.com website it said - Last week's assignment of two federal prosecutors to investigate disclosures of national security information might have been the first shot in a new war on leaks. The director of national intelligence is expected soon to announce new measures to fight unauthorized disclosures, and some members of Congress say it could be time for new anti-leaking laws.

The moves are motivated by a concern that recent revelations about the successful penetration of an al-Qaida cell in Yemen, U.S. policies regarding drone aircraft strikes, and a White House-authorized cyber attack against Iran have jeopardized U.S. national security. But advocates of open government fear an overreaction. "Members of Congress in both parties have adopted an extreme knee-jerk position that presumes any and all disclosure of classified information is always wrong," says Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. "That just doesn't fit the experience of those of us who gather or consume news." Not all leaks of classified information are criminal. A successful prosecution for disclosing secrets has to prove violation of the 1917 Espionage Act and show that the leaker realized it could harm the United States or help a foreign government. "Classified information [may be] disclosed not only to undermine or challenge policy, but to explain it, to defend it and to interpret it for the public," Aftergood says and he is worried. "If Congress were to assert a hard line that each and every disclosure of classified information must be punished, a lot of the news-gathering and news-production process as we have known it would have to shut down," he says.

Congress passed just such a law in 2000, only to have it vetoed by President Clinton. In a statement Clinton said he objected to a "badly flawed" provision that would have made the unauthorized disclosure of classified information a felony. Clinton said that though well-intentioned, the provision is "overbroad and may unnecessarily chill legitimate activities that are at the heart of a democracy."

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, after a closed-door hearing on July 19, California Republican Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, the House Armed Services Committee Chairman, said he’s convinced the leaks didn’t come from the Pentagon.

I believe this was just another loud mouth attempt by the Republicans to discredit the President.