Friday, December 23, 2005

Time for Justice

This from Power Line blog on the New York Times article revealing top secret information and the legal ramifications thereof.

Permit to repeat one key point. The Times story is based on leaks of classified information by "nearly a dozen" current and former government officials. Whatever ambiguity may exist regarding the legality of the NSA program -- I don't think there's much, and whatever there is derives from our lack of knowledge of all relevant facts -- does not exist regarding the leaks. Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 798) prohibits the disclosure of several narrowly defined categories of information, specifically including classified information regarding communications intelligence:
a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information—
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(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government...
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Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. The following subsection (b) makes clear the applicability of the act to the informants and information related to the Times story:
The term "communication intelligence" means all procedures and methods used in the interception of communications and the obtaining of information from such communications by other than the intended recipients;
The term "unauthorized person" means any person who, or agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set forth in subsection (a) of this section, by the President, or by the head of a department or agency of the United States Government which is expressly designated by the President to engage in communication intelligence activities for the United States.


It's about time to move on this and make it as public as possible. Move now!!! Those responsible for this release of a national security secret and those that released it to the world must be brought to justice.

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