Anti Leak Law

The Basic Legal Framework

On the enforcement side, the administration might have a range of criminal statutes and enforceable legal obligations to use (or threaten to use) to stem the tide of leaks.

Criminal Statutes

The cornerstone of anti-leak law is a provision of the Espionage Act of 1917, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 793, which criminalizes improperly accessing, handling, or transmitting “information respecting the national defense” with the intent of injuring the United States or aiding a foreign nation. Under Supreme Court precedent, “national defense information” is broadly defined and includes sensitive information relating not only to the military, but also to national security more generally. As Professor Patricia Bellia notes, while “the phrase ‘national defense information’ used throughout §§ 793 and 794 is not coterminous with the phrase ‘classified information,’” nevertheless “a document’s classification status could provide evidence that the document was closely held or that the document, if transmitted, would injure the United States or aid a foreign nation.”

Later amendments added 18 U.S.C. § 798, criminalizing the disclosure of various kinds of classified information including information “concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government.” Section 798 contains no explicit intent requirement: in order to violate that provision, one need only “knowingly and willfully” communicate the information. Notably, this is the provision of the law which FBI Director Comey famously determined Hillary Clinton did not violate, despite demands for prosecution from President Trump and other political opponents. While the law facially allows prosecution for mere gross negligence, in reality it does seem to require some degree of intent.

The other law that often forms the basis of leak prosecutions is the general theft statute at 18 U.S.C. § 641. This provision makes it a crime to steal, sell, or convey “any record, voucher, money, or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof.” The federal courts of appeals differ on applying this statute to leaks of government information: while all of the circuits recognize the government’s property interest in records and documents (so if you physically steal actual records, the statute most certainly applies), some refuse to extend that to the underlying information contained in the records.

Other laws criminalize more specific leaks. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act, for instance, makes it a crime to reveal the identity of covert agents. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou was indicted under this act and the Espionage Act for leaking classified information relating to the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. He pled guilty in 2012 and was the first CIA officer to serve a prison sentence for leaking. This is also the substantive offense at the heart of the Plame affair, discussed below.

And beyond those substantive offenses criminalizing leaking itself, there’s the crime of making false statements. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, it is a felony offense to “knowingly and willfully . . . make[] a materially false” statement in the course of an investigation by any branch of the federal government. So if you lie about a material fact in the course of a leak investigation (see more below on investigations), you’ve committed another substantive felony, and one that is very frequently prosecuted.

This provision is used far more frequently than the others, in part because of the aggravating nature of lying to law enforcement and in part because the offense is easier to prove. As the saying goes, it’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.

For example, the high-profile leak investigation of the naming of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame might have involved the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, but prosecutors ended up indicting Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, on multiple counts of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements. As The Washington Post reported at the time, the U.S. Attorney on the case “noted that proving illegal disclosure of classified information under various federal statutes is difficult,” in part because many require proving specific knowledge or intent.




Leak Investigations

Typically, classified information leak investigations are overseen by DOJ’s National Security Division and conducted by the FBI. In a 2006 interview, David Szady, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, outlined how leak investigations proceed.

First, the “victim agency” (the owner of the classified material) refers the matter to the Department of Justice, who decides whether to open an investigation. Importantly, investigations are opened only when the leaked information is accurate—that is, the mere fact of an investigation is an indirect confirmation of the accuracy of the leak.

DOJ then sends the file to the FBI, who conducts the actual investigation, typically reviewing documentation and signals intelligence but sometimes through interviews and polygraphs.



Editor Note


Under the obama administration the FBI was corrupt and included many corrupt FBI officials. It still contains corrupt agents that leak information.

Not only the FBI leaks information but other people who work in the government who oppose President Trump and will do ANYTHING including leaking government information.

Now Bill Barr the Attorney General  has an ongoing criminal investigation that involves what the FBI has been doing that was ILLEGAL!


Making false statements, disclosure of various kinds of classified information, improperly accessing, handling, or transmitting “information respecting the national defense” with the intent of injuring the United States or aiding a foreign nation, “knowingly and willfully” communicate the information.

So  if you lie about a material fact in the course of a leak investigation  you’ve committed another substantive felony, and one that is very frequently prosecuted.

FBI leadership and  FBI agents are being investigated for the above CRIMINAL violations.

Not only the FBI but others including those in the media and other areas of the "deep state".

A grand jury is investigating the FBI and other deep state corruption.

There will be those who will go to jail.

These people know their leaking is soon to be exposed.

Many don't care, they just will continue to leak government information.

These people are corrupt crimminals who should be prosecuted.

Most of all Obama and Hillery should also be prosecuted.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

 appendix 1 fbi fisa application abuse

17 Violations done by the FBI

Appendix 1 of  Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation — Full Report
has 3 sections about supporting documentation and there is NONE!!


ALL The Assertions in  4 FISA Applications indicate the infomation given to the FISA court were not factual at all.

This is just some of the information the criminal grand jury is investigating under Attorney General Barr.



I hope justice will prevail and the corrupt FBI officials and other deep state individuals will do jail time for their criminal activities.